My niece Keely is in her twenties and has given birth to the cutest baby currently on the planet — do not argue with me about this; you will lose — but that does not mean I do not remember all the things she did when she herself was a child. Because I need to… Continue reading By Gum
Category: Family
The Bird Returns
I got mail from Iowa this week. When I opened it, this picture fell out, with a note from a friend of my parents. Martha reads the blog. She loves the posts about family, so last week was a good one for her. She has a lot of memories of the bird in the pocket. I… Continue reading The Bird Returns
Uncle Bird
My father always had a bird in his pocket. No, of course not really. What a mess that would be. Still, all my life, I remember children running up to him and with arms over their heads, waiting to be swooped up onto his hip, and shrieking to see the bird. In the last years… Continue reading Uncle Bird
In Groups of Three
We were three stair-steps growing up, cousins each a year apart, Gina-Carol-Carla. There were a lot of cousins — thirty-two on my mom’s side — but we were special somehow. Close enough in age and without major personality conflicts, I think. Our mothers mostly indulged us; cousins were safe friends. Sometimes we were all together,… Continue reading In Groups of Three
Ten Days
My husband has been in the hospital for ten days. He went in through ER with an infection in his leg. We were not expecting this at all, let alone for things to last this long. We don't know when he will come home. The boys ask me every day, and I am afraid to… Continue reading Ten Days