Love

Princess Commando is home sick today with a migraine. An unfortunate inheritance from her mother. In her groggy post migraine fog, she stumbled over to my desk and handed me a valentine. Be still my beating heart.

A picture of my new dog, Bridget 

 

In case you can't make out the writing, it says:

Dear Mother,

Happy Valentine's Day! My love for you is stronger than the Earth's gravitational pull. It is so strong that I feel any of your own pain and sorrow. You are my universe. Thank you for years of kindness. Love, Anna

Whether or not you buy into this day or shun it for it's shameless commercialism, here's my Valentine to you:

At the end of the day, after the routine, the scuffles, the worries, the laughter, the monotony, the excitement, the narrowly avoiding disaster, I wish you all a soft place to fall.

somewhere

With four demanding pups at home, Maude and Rex realized that they were losing touch with each other. They had become two ships passing in the night. They longed for time together alone- without the daily pressures of work, soul searching and family.

There's a place for us

Somewhere a place for us

Peace and quiet and open air

Wait for us

Somewhere*

There's a time for us,

Someday a time for us,

Time together with time to spare

Time to look, time to care

Someday!

Somewhere.

We'll find a new way of living

We'll find a way of forgiving

Somewhere.

There's a place for us

A time and a place for us

Hold my hand and we're half way there

Hold my hand and I'll take you there

Somehow,

Someday,

Somewhere!

 

Here's to staying connected with the ones you love.

*Somewhere from West Side Story

Music by Leonard Bernstein, Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

parting words

My sister and the boys left yesterday. There is a giant empty space that only their bodies can fill. Our family felt complete-balanced even in the chaos of cousins clamoring for each other's attention. I know that my sister and brother- in- law want to move back here. It will happen. Hopefully sooner rather than later. As we shed our parting tears yesterday, the sky opened up and it began to pour. Henry nudged me, "It looks like you wished for the wrong thing, Mom."
"How is that?"
"You wished for rain the other day, when you should have wished for Aunt Bug to stay forever."
You can rest assured, that the only wishes that will spring forth from my heart (besides good will to all mankind) are wishes to bring my sister and the boys back to Buffalo forever.

Some images from their visit:

They were sharing a snack, hence the fingers in the mouth in all of the illustrations and in this picture.

The 7 Cousins

Odd Couple

I came across this pair during a visit to the Toronto Zoo three years ago. I watched as the giraffe kept in step with the goose- following her, shadowing her. Not stalking- but walking alongside her. They traveled together along the perimeter of the enclosure, pausing every so often to take in the scenery and inhale the warm summer air. There were other giraffes there and there were other geese. But, they stayed in their own groups- never mingling. This lovely pair seemed to belong to one another. An unlikely coupling, but there they were.  And, here is their story.

Goose and Giraffe loved each other even though they were impossibly different. Goose was prone to bouts of anxiety which led to fits of frantic honking and erratic wing flapping. Giraffe, so gentle and mild, was prone to long periods of complacency which were followed by an urgent need to make a change. But, they valued each other's companionship and accepted one another's stellar attributes as well as shortcomings. They found a good balance in life together.

Giraffe could reach for things that were in high places; and, he could change a light bulb without the need of a ladder. Some days, he, also, needed to reach Goose who might be teetering off the edge of the roof having become overwhelmed with life in general. He always managed to calmly, quietly, patiently talk her down from her hysterics and hush her honking. "I am here for you. We are in this together."

And, Goose, who was keenly aware of her surroundings, and who had the memory of an elephant, could always help Giraffe find the items he had misplaced (which happened a lot). She was, also, his voice of reason when he would declare, on a whim, that he was quitting his job as an Information Technology consultant to join the circus or the PGA. " You can't quit! The world will suffer without your talents!"

Yes, they were an odd couple. But, love often comes in unexpected packages. And, when you find it, you ought to hold onto it dearly and treasure it daily.

Happy Valentine's Day, You Crazy Animals!

Tokens of Love

The Baby has been sick the past three days.  Her stomach is disordered and her poor bum- well, you can imagine. She has slowed down ever so slightly- not so eager to practice her new climbing skills. And, although I would never wish an illness on any of my children, I do enjoy this temporary quiet of The Baby’s body. She is receptive to being caressed and carried, her soft downy head willingly nestles between my chin and my heart, she awakens in the wee hours of the morning just to connect with Mama for comfort and reassurance. Even though her whimpers startle me out of a sound sleep, I do not resent the dark hours, rocking her in her chair and hearing her softly breathe and hum. With that said, I am exhausted. We are coming on four days of around the clock care and my reserves are running low. The other children are patient and compassionate for their littlest sister, and they know in their hearts that we each take our turns with illness and neediness. But, I worry that I have not given each them enough attention over the past few days.

Last night, as I was getting ready for bed, I was placing my earrings in their pottery container on an old table we recently brought up from the living room.  My eye caught the outline of a red chenille pipe cleaner heart sweetly placed beside the pottery. Just the day before, I was folding laundry in the bedroom and had to untangle a crumpled up red chenille pipe cleaner from a toe hole in one of First Born Son’s dingy, threadbare socks. I threw it on the table intending to use it to lecture the kids about emptying their pockets before haplessly stuffing their clothing down the laundry chute. And, here it was metamorphosed into a token of love. If I were to guess, I would say it was the handiwork of Princess Commando. She has been known to take a stack of pennies from a bedside table and transform them into the outline of a bird or some other whimsical creature for us to find as we reach over to turn out the light. Or, there are other times when I find her Cheerios arranged on the dining room table to spell out, "I LOVE YOU" (with a heart replacing the word love). It is a gesture that I appreciate beyond words. A love note to remind me that while I am caring for others, there is someone thinking of me- caring for me.

A note: I have not had the creative power to illustrate over the past few days. The illustrations above are from a picture book that I created for Princess Commando. You may view it here:

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/annies-beach-rocks/4555361