A long time away...

I've neglected my blog for some time now. Sorry about that, this year has had a rough start for me and my family.

As Mother's day approaches, I feel it's time to take the blog out of its hiatus and post anew. Mother's day used to be a good time of year, a chance to honor the woman who gave me life. To be perfectly frank, now it just brings up memories of what I have lost and sad for what I took for granted.

My much loved mom died December 12 after a long decline following a stroke in April 2006. My dad kept her at home for 2+ years after a trial of unsuccessful rehabilitation. She was bedridden and slipped away from us a fragment at a time until the only thing remaining was her gentleness. In all that time, my dad kept her from going into a nursing home and she never once had a serious bedsore. My dad is a lot of things (eccentric to say the least) but he took great care of my mom.

My mom was a tiny person but she had the most incredible spirit and courage. My brother and I are better people because of her presence in our lives. She worked way harder than she had to and denied herself many little pleasures so that we could have a better education and have things she didn't when she was a kid. She struggled with depression and had a problem with not throwing anything away. That being said, what I will remember most is how she encouraged me and my brother to do and be our very best. She was not perfect, but she loved us with her whole heart. She truly believed in us and loved us even when we were awful. She was my cheerleader, my secret keeper, and most of all, my best friend. I miss her and feel the loss of her presence in my life every day.

Six weeks after my mom died, my dad decided to go skydiving. He declined the strong recommendation of the course instructor and jumped solo the first time. Immediately upon exiting the airplane, he realized he had made a grave mistake. He landed in a horse pasture with his chute tangled in an overhead line. Luckily, he only suffered compression fractures in his back and nearly broke his right foot clean off (literally). I say luckily, because he really could have just as easily died. So after 2 months of being once again house bound and dependant on me and his neighbors to get his mail and groceries, he's just now able to drive. After getting surgery to get the pins out of his ankle, he's planning on taking a sailing class so he can charter a boat around the Gulf of Mexico for a few days. *sigh* At least his pilot's license has lapsed and he won't be in the air. The man is *go* all the time.

One week after his accident, my house was burgled while I was not home (thank God!). The jerks took my computers, one of which was fairly new and the other which was 10 years old. I got to thank them for taking the old one, because I wasn't sure what to do with it since I don't think they want those things in landfills. Sometime during the break in, they hurt one of my cats too. After 2 months of being in a splint, she's better and putting weight on her foot and I hope she will make a full recovery without (very expensive) surgery. And by the way, I now have a nice, loud alarm system, thankyouverymuch. And I've only set it off accidentally a few times, which is good if you know me.

So now that everything has settled down, I'm working on the house and trying to get it ready to go on the market. I'm hoping to move to Charleston to try something abjectly normal: I'm going to live with my husband again. Novel concept, eh? Besides, the drive to Charleston is getting old. I'll try to blog more frequently too.

Moving forward and living the best, happiest, fullest life is the best way I can think of to honor my mom. I think she would be proud. Thanks for everything you have given me, mom. You're the best.