Life has been quite the mix of sad and happy here in my Middle World. My Youngest graduated from high school in May and is now away at college. I have mixed feelings about this; on the one hand I have had a child under my roof constantly for the past thirty one years, so it is a great relief in many respects. I am actually on my own for literally the first time in all my life, with only housemates of the four legged kind to keep me company. The good aspects of this are being able to watch what I want on our only television; being able dress (or UNdress in my case) how I wish, cooking food that I like ( which I did when she was home but she doesn't like that much that I cook, so there was always the issue of not being able to please her palate, so to speak), playing the music that I like as loud as I want to, not feeling guilty when I want to spend more time in the studio on the weekend. The list goes on. The downside is that I now have three cats who all expect to be able to sit in my lap every single time I am NOT standing and be petted, and I miss her. I miss her smile and her laugh and her sharp as hell wit and her quirky sense of humor. I even miss getting in each other's way in the morning. I don't know about other moms, but I raised my children to be really independent and able to function in the world as productive people. I think I did a pretty good job with that; they are all highly intelligent people who support themselves quite well, even the Youngest who is taking 15 hours this semester and paying her tuition balance through work study. Most important, they are just good people.
A very, very sad part has been my Daughter in Law losing her mother quite tragically in late August when she took her own life. It broke my DiL's heart, and in turn, mine and my son's. I won't go into detail, but I would like to state that my Son has really proven himself as a good man and a good husband. Even though he was also very upset, his main focus was to take care of his wife and support her through the whole thing. She's the oldest of three girls, and was very close to her mom. Top that off with the fact that her mom did it TWO DAYS before her 29th birthday and she has had a tough time and will for a while. I lost my mother when I was 28 to mental illness and I told my DiL it's not something you will ever get over, you just learn to live with the ache. Sort of.
To end on a much happier note the weather her in the Middle has been absolutely fabulous! Crisp nights and mild days that surely signal Fall is here at last. I am posting a pic of the beautiful flowers I received for my birthday almost two weeks ago from my Son, DiL and First Daughter when we went to dinner at an awesome bbq restaurant, Sugarfire Smoke House, www.sugarfiresmokehouse.com/. AH-MAY-ZING FOOD people! And the crack pie we split a piece of for dessert?Ummmm Mmmmm Good. :)
Until next time my friends. Peace, love, happiness and safety to you all.
alice
