In Memory of Lib

I know my blogs have been sad of late, but that is life, my dear friends.  If you love, you will hurt.  If you love, you will one day suffer loss.  I am sad, but I am grateful.  I cry, and yet I smile.  Sort of like the sun shining when it's raining.  I know the two don't go together, but yet they do.  Had I not had the love and support of this wonderful woman for so many years, I could have been spared this pain.  I would much rather hurt.  So here is a post I wrote in November.  Spring is showing me a promise that sunnier, happier days are ahead.  But for now, I am going to allow myself to just be sad and miss someone who was dear and special and will never be replaced.  We will laugh and the sun will shine--another day, another time.

In memory of Lib~ 11-10-1920 to 3-30-2011

The Other Mother


~God Bless

Beau

My price tag was high

   but I was worth every penny.

You won me at auction;

   the bids~there were many.

"Take him back," you begged

   the man with the gavel.

"No, he's yours to keep now.

All bids here are final."

My big brown eyes melted your heart.

I had you at "SOLD!"

You knew from the start.

I was bred for the hunt,

webbed toes for swimming.

I grew strong and handsome,

a dog made for winning.

We made quite a pair

just you and me.

Then along came a wee one,

My buddy P.

I looked after him.

As I watched over you.

You looked after me.

But I just had to go.

I was made for the hunt.

I was made to fetch.

I was made to run far.

I dreamed of the catch.

I loved you royaly.

You loved me well.

I will always be your Beau

and you my belle.

RIP Beau 3-28-2011

I will miss you, too.

The Weird Sisters



Mama at Law and Mama Cat

 Are you a sister?  Then you are not surprised by the title of this post.  Sisterhood is weird.  As Charlie Brown says, "Big sisters are the crabgrass in the lawn of life."  But to anyone who has ever started a lawn, they can tell you that crabgrass is better than no grass.  So a big sister is better than no sister, right? Absolutely!  I happen to be one myself.  Why, if it were not for me, sister would not have learned her dance moves, her impeccable fashion sense, nor her wicked sense of humor.  Or maybe she would have, but I like to think I get some credit.  My mother and father did not have my little sister until I was nine years old.  I can tell you it was a huge relief to hand over the title of 'baby' to her.  Being a 'born' teacher, I was a natural at bossing her around and planning her life.  But then came college, and dating, and starting out on my own, and baby sister and I grew apart.  The recent illness of my mother has brought us closer once more since she and I  know Mom in ways that noone else would understand. It is 'weird' how much she sometimes sounds like me and thinks like me since we are very different.  Mom is a stronger thread than I realized.

I just finished my March installment of reading one book a month with an early finish of The Weird Sisters, by Eleanor Brown.  This lovely novel stars three sisters, daughters of a professor, who share a love of reading with their parents.  The scholarly father infuses literary quotes into his conversations with the girls that you will enjoy if you are a lover of the classics or Shakespeare.  I am neither, but I enjoyed this riddling dialogue all the same.  The sisters all return home to help care for their mother who is undergoing cancer treatment, but each young woman is harboring a cancer of her own making.  If you have a sister or are one, you will find yourself relating to one or more of the characters in the novel.  Even sisterhood takes on a voice in the book.  At one point, I thought there was a fourth sister, but then I realized it was simply 'sisterhood' herself speaking.  And the sisters are not 'weird', so to speak.  That, too, is a literary reference. I highly recommend the book to you whether you are a sister or not.



 It was wonderful to raise two daughters.  It gave me an opportunity to try the sisterhood business one more time.  I know I raised two wonderful women.  They will have to judge for themselves how the sisterhood stuff panned out. 

  "You're not like me," Rose said.
Cordy looked at her like a curious squirrel. "Don't be ridiculous.  I'm exactly like you.  We're all exactly alike, you know."
  "Sure. In the way that we're completely different."
                                                                             ~The Weird Sisters~

I always told the girls, "Your friends will come and go.  You will be sisters forever."  I hope that will be a blessing to each one throughout her life.

~Stay close, sisters~

Dapper P

You may be feeling sorry for me that I have no granddaughters to dress up and primp.  Well, pack up your pity party supplies!  My PDub loves clothes!  He is just as thrilled to get a new shirt as he is when he gets a new toy!   Here is a chronicle of P and his fashion sense. 

PDub at 14 months.  He is a mirror image of his daddy.

Last Easter, PDub was 21 months.  One of his first words~roll. (his sleeves)

Still rolling.  (Check out Daddy at Law's shirt.)

two and a half
Still lookin' dapper!

The latest shirt from Grammy...he inisted on putting it right on!  Again, check out Daddy at Law's shirt.

Growing in style~