There are times when we realize that things just don’t make sense. But once we think about it, they make perfectly perfect sense. We just don’t understand what it means. Maybe we’re not meant to. Three years ago, I took my niece to NYC for her 13th birthday. We spent several hours in the rain walking around the newly finished 9/11 Memorial. I wrote about finding Todd Beamer’s name and thinking back to his wife’s book and then… As strange as it sounds, I think of Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas and her Unborn Child often. I mean, not every day, but sometimes I’ll hear a word and think of her. Coozie, Grandiflora (plant word),…
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Just like that… You’re 10.
It seems like just yesterday, you were placed in my arms, held up by your dad because to be honest, I was so drugged up I couldn’t function. But I remember that moment. I remember asking if you were ok and crying when they said you were healthy and safe. It seems like just yesterday, you were taking your first steps at Thanksgiving lunch and getting your first teeth. Then you were riding your first bike, having your first little girlfriend, and having your first sleepovers. It seems like just yesterday, you were nine. That’s because you were. But today you’re ten. Ten. That’s double digits. Two hands. You’re JAZZ…
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Randomness
Oh, old school blogging, how I’ve missed you! Remember the days of lists and tagging your friends to answer questions about themselves? That, to me, was true blogging. That’s where I first dug into learning about other people, soaking up their answers and commenting and nodding in agreement to crazy things they had to say. Anyway, I got tagged to share five random things about myself. Here goes. ONE I was bald until I was two. Then I had red hair. And then it turned mousy brown. I’ve never naturally had black or blonde hair, though. TWO I am ambidextrous. I am not an amphibian like I once told someone…
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The Photographs
We had been talking about getting a fancy digital camera. In 2003, there weren’t a million choices like there are now, and the choices that were out there were either expensive or Capital E Expensive. We’d done our homework and knew which one we were going to get. But we had time. After all, the baby wasn’t due until June. Until it was time. As I moaned and groaned in the L&D room, my husband gave his work-wife instructions on EXACTLY which camera it was. The lens size. The case he wanted. The extra memory card he would need so he could fill it with memories of this day. And to…
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Running Contentment
This week I wrote down the word “Contentment.” Contentment is always a goal of mine. Sometimes I feel content with life and other times I feel like I’m flailing around like a fish out of water. I long for the times where I can just be. I’m one of those people who is silently competitive. I like to raise more money than everybody else for my TeamRMHC races (yes, see sidebar for the link to donate). I like to be part of things that are just starting out (see twitter, ello, instagram). In high school I wanted to always win all the awards I could at dance team camp. I’m pretty good…
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I Wouldn’t Change A Thing
Today, Jason and I mark our 16th wedding anniversary. I know what you’re thinking… “She must’ve been 10 when she got married.” No, actually, I was 22 and three weeks out of college. A baby, yes. A child bride, not quite. I look at Pinterest and see photo shoots my friends do of some amazing weddings, weddings I wish were mine. Oh, if I had it all to do over, I would do this, that and the other thing. No. Actually I wouldn’t change a thing. It was a at the beach, a week after a tropical storm blew through. A destination wedding before destination weddings were cool. It was…
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Tales of a Fourth Grade Tween
I look at him, stomping around the house, being angry about whatever there is to be angry about today. Three minutes later, I watch him slip over to the sofa and sit as close to me as humanly possible without getting back in my womb. He nuzzles his head under my arm and I can feel him relax. Things are changing. Fourth grade is hard. Being almost ten is hard. He’s not a teen, but he’s certainly not a baby anymore. It’s a purgatory area, those tween years, of being immaturely mature and learning to move through life in a bigger way. In the mornings, we fuss. He’d rather lay…
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Her Last First Day of Football Season
Football season is here. The countdown has been on since January 6 when Auburn and Florida State faced off in an amazing final BCS National Championship Game before the new Playoff system goes into play. As the clock ticks down and the very first college kickoff is within reach, or even on the same calendar page, plans start being made. Tailgates are planned. Trips to games are scheduled. The excitement builds! Both of my grandmothers were big football fans. My Mimi (my Dad’s mom) was an NFL gal. Of course, she watched Auburn play, but her Sunday afternoons after my grandfather died were spent watching the NFL. I remember her…
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This Week In Numbers: The Medical Mystery Tour
5 – number of days this week Henry or I have seen a doctor 6 – number of waiting rooms I’ve waited in since Monday morning. Add the one on Friday and you get 7. 13 – number of days I’ve now been dealing with a rash of unknown origin or diagnosis. 5 – number of different diagnoses for the rash on my body. It’s been shingles, staph, a bug bite, a fungus, contact dermatitis… 7 – number of shots Henry had to drain what looked like aliens out of an infected boil 365,397 – times I wanted to die on Wednesday 28,967 – times I wet my pants while…
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A Collector of People
“She was a collector of people.” This phrase has come up more than once in the last few weeks, strangely. The first and most moving time was at my friend Julia’s mom’s memorial service. In her eulogy, Julia mentioned her mother was a people collector and quickly it was clear she was one of the most loved and admired women I’ve ever (once) come in contact with. She held her collection close to her and they very obviously lifted her up as she lifted them up. I’ve known people like this. For example, my Grannie was like this. She liked to have people around. Family, friends new and old, children of her friends, grandchildren of her friends, nieces,…
