Thursday, July 2, 2009

Friday Foto (s)

It's been a rough couple of weeks around here at the T house. Without going into the rotten little details, let's just say that there's been a lot of saltwater flowing around here.

The crazy thing with families is that one little leak in the boat drags you all down. Moods spread like a congtagion, infecting even the smallest members. Joy, sorrow, anger, despair, fear--it's a match striking flint.

If we didn't live in the Rocky Mountains, I'd swear the Santa Ana winds were blowing--people are acting that loony. Miss D. sleepwalks, wanders into our room, makes a new bed on the cold tile of the bathroom. Miss M. has 2,3,4 a.m. terrors, shreiking into the night, remembering none of it the next day.

Even our little Lore is feeling the sting, and I wouldn't have her happiness blighted for the world. When the sparkle goes out of those pale green eyes, something needs fixing. Our family is slowly re-trenching, trying to take great care with each other, because that's what you do with raw wounds.

When the going gets tough, I make food. I'm not particularly good with people. I always feel like I'm in pitch black, fumbling for the lightswitch. But feeding people, I can do.

We're thirsty here, but boy, we're coming up dry. Nobody's got much of an appetite, so I'm focusing on simple pleasures that might lighten us up and catapult us out of this mood. I decided that nobody can feel bad eating a cool, succulent wedge of watermelon, so that's what I cut into yesterday afternoon. And this is the first thing I saw.




The world works in nutty ways. Sometimes it flings us completely on our ass, but we soldier through and prop each other up. We hold on and straighten shoulders and whisper quietly that it really is okay. And it is.




Happy 4th of July to you and yours. Hug them tight.

8 comments:

  1. Oh Dana, I love you, the family and your blog. This one brought tears to my eyes. I miss you guys already!

    ReplyDelete
  2. No WAY! That's amazing. I don't mean to bypass the family difficulties that you mentioned, but I'm totally blown away by the heart in that watermelon slice. Amazing. Were any of the kids struck by the poignancy of your own little secular image (a la the face of the Virgin Mary)?

    ReplyDelete
  3. That heart is a miracle. Guess the universe wanted to show you some love, girl. And you know what? You deserve it.

    (And the I'm Not Good With People claim? No way. You are GREAT with people.)

    Happy Fourth, sweetie!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am blessed with very kind people in my life. GEW--yep--we were all totally gorked out over the heart, especially our Lore. It just kicked our butt over here!

    Ink, you always have the perfect thing to say.xoxo Elle

    Kayla, love you too, baby.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, that would totally throw me for a loop to cut into a melon with life being filled with challenges to see a heart. What a beautiful sign for hope that this too will pass. Here's to wishing that you can all eat ice cream and capture the happiness of summer again soon.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow.

    Just amazing.

    And I'm sorry about the night terrors and sleepwalking. My older daughter still suffers night terrors on a regular basis and I spent at least half an hour watching her last night. If you ever need/want someone to vent to about it, please shoot me an email. I totally understand!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sooo, I tried posting a comment on this last night, but right as I was about to type "what an AMAZING pic," that's when Hubs discovered our water heater had sprung a leak. Sadly, I had to leave my computer to help wring out a bunch of crap.

    So here I am again, writing to say, "what an amazing pic!" Take that sign and run with it!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I feel so lucky to have you awesome bloggers in my life. Can't tell you how much you guys make my day.

    ReplyDelete