Let's Build A Word - AUNT!

Holy crapola! I just got a call I never thought I would get...my brother and his wife are expecting! I'm going to be an aunt! My brother is not known to be warm and fuzzy - he seems to enjoy his nephews but seems to enjoy giving them back even more. He's fastidious in terms of his clothing, his car, his house. And they are having a baby! He is in for such a game changer and I can hardly wait to see this happen.

Of course no sooner had I gotten off the phone with him than P had jammed a kernel of corn up his nose. I had to call back to share the joys of parenthood with him. After successfully removing the corn with tweezers...of course. Surgery before gloating, always.

A Very Good Place to Start?

I keep thinking one of these days I'm finally going to have a chance to sit down and start this story at the beginning. Isn't that where you are supposed to start? But I guess the reality is that the beginning will come out when it is time and for now I should just start typing. I seriously doubt that anyone will ever read this and so it doesn't matter where I begin and what direction I go in. So, now that I've got that out there...I need to find a good place to start.

Maybe tomorrow.

My little poem

I found this little poem that I had written to submit to the Washington Post for their 'Life is short' series...and then they stopped running it. So here it is:

Mum is our world. Maybe she’s the gravity that tethers us together.

Suddenly she’s gone – unexpected, devastating.
Feet of clay, yet feeling like we might float away on unending waves of grief.
Her love allowed us to soar as individuals with no fear of becoming lost.

I am the Mum now.
Her munchkins depend on me to anchor them without hurting their tiny toddler wings.
I never had time to ask how she did it.

It is what it is...

A very wise woman used to tell me that all the time - it is what it is. Those silly 5 words were often enough to talk me 'off the ledge' when life became so overwhelming that I didn't know how to take another step. Mum could put it all into perspective with that phrase, over and over again.

But Mum is gone now - and no matter what it is - it isn't very good anymore. I'm hoping a journey taken with my heart, my mind and my fingers will help to make it better. It is what it is...