A Heart Left Closed

I never thought I'd feel this way again.
At first you were a game to me; a whim
And I was lonely
So tired of spending time alone
And pretending to be happy all the time.

I was careful
Afraid of what might happen to me
if I let go
Opening my heart to someone new
never presented itself as a thing to do
And I was certain—so certain
that a heart left closed could feel no pain.

Beyond the sadness and the rain
I sensed your love coming my way
It brushed away the silent tears
Left by a love of many years
You put the song back in my heart
I never thought the days would start
when I'd be caring once again
A heart left closed can never mend.

by Christine Young 1983

A Family Reunion

These are just two of the photo's my cousin Teddy's wife, Chris, took at our recent family reunion. She did a spectacular job and I cannot wait to see the rest of them. It was a very special day for my mom, as she had not seen her nephew in over 30 years. I hadn't seen Teddy in over 35 years and we were all looking forward to meeting Chris. We were friends on Facebook, but it was so nice to finally meet her in person. She is very special and both Teddy and Chris were the life of the party. The pleasures of this day exceeded our expectations. My only regret is that my dad and my Aunt Lee (my mom's sister), who had both passed away a few years ago, were not there with us enjoying the reunion. As for my mom, she was beaming with happiness and pride, and hugging her nephew was like hugging her sister too.

Happy Birthday Honey

Tomorrow is my hubby's birthday and I have to tell you he is just the best husband a girl could have...not only because he cooks my dinner and cleans the house and does the finances and gives the cats their pills every day, but because he supports me in every way that counts. So today I'm wishing him a happy birthday and I'm telling the world...or at least just my Facebook friends...how wonderful he is.

It's Been A While

I haven't blogged in my blog for ages. Let me see, I broke my ankle in September and my moods for a few months after that time were mostly bad. I didn't know it, of course, but I imagine if you ask anyone I work with they'll tell you how erratic my behavior was. I am only now starting to be happy, which coincides with springtime being just around the corner.

Having A Broken Ankle

On the Saturday morning of September 4th, I was walking with my mother in the park. I twisted my ankle and fell. To make an otherwise long story short it was indeed broken. I was out of work for nearly 7 weeks and that was hell. During this time period I watched the 3rd season of Lark Rise to Candelford, many of my favorite old B&W movies, and the entire 6 seasons of Star Trek Voyager (one right after the other).

I went back to work on October 13th with a walker and a cane, and later, when the walker was starting to be a pain in the ass, I switched to crutches. Yesterday I was told by my orthopedic doctor that I could start putting my full weight on the foot, using only 1 crutch and eventually walking without the crutch. Let me tell you it still hurts like hell. My heel is what hurts the most. It took me nearly 15 painful minutes to get from my desk at work to my car in the parking deck, which usually only takes 3 minutes. I start physical therapy next Thursday. The moral of this unenthusiastic story is watch every step you take!

Parsonage Place

This past weekend my sisters and I took a road trip to Long Island with my mom. Our primary purpose was to visit the house she grew up in the 20s. Her hope all along was that the current owners would be home and she would be able to see the back yard (the canal) where she played as a child.

When we got there we weren't sure of which house it was. We had an old photo that my Uncle Russell had taken of the house in the 1980s. We parked the car at the end of the canal and walked up the street looking at all the homes carefully. "The numbers must have changed" my mom said.

We proceeded to look at two homes in particular that had the chimneys in front. Then we spotted it. It was the house with the chimney but it also had the garage. The other house did not have the garage.

So, the four of us are outside this house on the street looking around while the woman in the back yard and her neighbor in the next yard are looking at us curiously. My sister said to them "don't mind us, we're just looking around" and I added, so they wouldn't think we were nuts, that "my mom grew up in this house". With that, the woman and her neighbor took one look at my mom and raced out to the front yard to meet her. What a special treat it was for my mom to be so welcomed. A few minutes later the woman's husband came home and we introduced ourselves to him also.

What a nice couple. I think they were more excited to meet my mom than she was to meet them. They had so many questions about their home. They had been able to trace the home's construction back to 1923 and no further, and my mom was able to confirm that, since she moved in with her family when she was four years old (1924) right after it was first built.

They invited us in to see the home and to show my mom the additions that were put on over the years (it was originally just a tiny cottage size home). We went out onto the back deck to finally see the canal my mom had told us about all during the years we were growing up. The canal that she and her sister and brothers had swam in and fished in and had so much fun in. Then we all took photos and promised to exchange via e-mail when they are all processed. My mom also promised that she'd try to find some old photos from way-back-when and make copies for them.

It was time to leave and we all said goodbye with smiles on our faces. The biggest smile was on my mom's face. It is a visit she will never forget.

The Surprise Visit

Today was a very good day. I had a surprise visit from my cousin Nancy and her husband Tommy (and dog Maddie) this morning. Ray didn't tell me. They called last Wednesday and said they were taking a little road trip to see us and Tommy's sister in Delaware. Ray said that he'd keep their visit a secret to surprise me. I certainly was surprised. At first I thought we were going out to a special breakfast, but when I asked him this morninig if we'd be walking anywhere (I had to know which shoes to wear) he said "who said we're leaving the house?" That prompted me to think right away that yes, this was some kind of surprise visit, but who? He said "just be ready at the front door at 9:00 a.m." I said to myself "it couldn't be Diane and Peter because they wouldn't even be up this early. But it could be Debbie and Mike and it could also be Nancy and Tommy".

9:00 am came and a car pulled up. I went out to the driveway to find Nancy, Tommy and Maddie in their SUV. What a sight for sore eyes. It was so good to see them today. We had a really nice breakfast and Nancy helped me set up Skype on my computer. Then we called Carolann and I could see her on my computer screen and she was there with Bonnie and it was so good to see them. Now I'm skype ready and all I have to do is get Diane's house on skype and then Kelly and John and Eileen and Gus. Then we can chat and talk on the video call instead of on the phone. It will be fantastic.