Chez Rozarie

When we reflect on the past, it is often either the most recent past or long ago times that come to mind. Yet a reflection should be about a subject or specific, I think. Family comes to mind this year, as the ashes that we have custody of increased, and family members are not here anymore. Family are also not in the country this year as lives have become more global. We close another year having more knowledge first hand of our own country, having traveled across much of it. Family isn't just blood as we all should know by now. My pleasure this year was to travel with some of the best people in my life ever. We flew, drove, walked, laughed, cried, drank. ate, talked in no specific order. 6 women, who started in life in similar places, went through life in part together, in part separate, raised kids, worked in many careers. Common threads, with common dreams. We want the best for our families, have different ideas of how to get that for and with them. Bonds once forged and broke...

Saw Dad tonight down at the seawall with his "old man crew". It was just a quick stop. He was there for the same reason I was there - it was freakin' hot! The seawall in Lordship is certainly one of the breeziest places in Stratford when the temperature is still up there at 6 p.m. I'm sure another reason he was there is because today would have been Mom's 81st birthday. I prefer to remember her on 2 days especially - her birthday and Mother's Day. My neighborfriend and I were talking about Mom last night as we tried to catch a breeze outside. She is working with someone who was a kid growing up in Lordship with us, and told my neighborfriend how much her Mom liked my Mom and who she was. Her Mom was a bit younger than my Mom. It made me happy to hear that. The loss of Mom still lingers, of course. It's just part of who I am now - I guess that's how it works after a few years. I'm glad, so glad, that our kids really got to know their Grammie so ...

Hey, Mom. Miss you every day, still. Don't cry about it too much anymore, but do more laughing. Think about all the fun times we had growing up and then as adults with you. So glad our kids knew you when you were full of fun and fearless, before your brain began to recede from all around you. I posted a picture of you with Miah on his bike...you were still in your fearless mode, sporting your shamrock tattoo, your red crocs and a big ass smile. That smile is one I hold in my heart always. Went on a trip a few weeks ago with the girls - these girls that I grew up with, and now am getting old with. We talked about our mothers, and how much they meant to us. I learned how all of our experiences with our mothers shape us into mothers and into people who at some point teach our children to parent, whether they have kids or not. These mothers of my friends, they were so much more than I ever thought they were. I hope that the next generation thinks that about us. I do remember thi...