Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Preparations and Memories

I'm enjoying the  cranking of the Ipod tunes, the cleaning, baking, and setting the table while listening to Dar Williams and whoever else decides to croon from the JBL dock in the living room.  I just brought Kathleen and Madeline back over to Madeline's house, and I'm missing their cute little laughing selves....but at the same time, enjoying the roll-baking, cranberry-bread-making, and discovering where my linens ended up after the move.

The pumpkin bread is next!  It smells darn good in here.  I actually made my own chicken stock last night for my stuffing tomorrow.  OMG.  I think I'm turning into a hausfrau!  Hee!   I'm looking forward to celebrating our first holiday in the new house, and just thought I'd pop in and blog about it.  I know.  I'm lame.  

But wait! Here's something to pull at your heartstrings, so you don't go away bored.  Yesterday, while emptying more boxes of books and whatnot, I came across a box from my mother's house.  It had all of her books about birth order, astrology, and self-hypnosis (see?  I come by it naturally!) and lo and behold I came across this manilla envelope labeled "hair."  That's it--just "hair."  So I look inside, and there is my little sister's soft blond braid.  Oy vey.  (She was killed in a car crash in 1987--she was 20.)  I think it was from her last haircut from when she was in Bolivia her senior year in high school.  At any rate, I had to have a little crying break, and think about my mother, and what an unbelievable grief she must have felt at the loss of her youngest child.  I believe I can't even begin to imagine it.  It got me thinking about just how fleeting life is, and that we just can't take anything or anyone for granted.  

I was actually reminded again of my sister this morning when Kathleen and Madeline were playing duets on their flute and clarinet.  Margaret and I used to play duets...me on my flute, her on her clarinet.  And I realize once again that life goes on.  It doesn't wait for us.  It's just one big never-ending story that sometimes comes full circle, isn't it?  It's good.  Life is hard.  But it's good, too.  

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.  Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the world, and sharing your time with me.  I'll never take you for granted!  :)

5 comments:

Linda@ Lime in the Coconut said...

Happy thanksgiving to you, too Sharona.

...To bittersweet memories that make us love and live that much fiercer.

Anonymous said...

Sweet post Sharona.

Happy Thanksgiving, from our home to yours!

Amber Cargile said...

Oh, Sharon, what a moment that must have been, to discover Margaret's braid. All I can say is that you do live life to the fullest...and you're a fantabulous mother. I'm blessed to call you friend! Happy belated Turkey Day!

Anonymous said...

My dear friend, you aren't lame at all. This was a beautiful post, a nice honest look at what holidays are all about...celebrations of life for those who are living, as we remember those who have shared that life with us and made us who we are in that moment.

The variations of the earlier theme of you and your sister's duet from Kathleen and Mad are especially lovely!

I hope you had a wonderful day...but with a pie that looked like that, I have no doubt that you did!

Rose - Watching Waves said...

One of the gifts of this time of year is that we often pull out things from our pasts and remember the love and lives of those who have shared our journeys. How wonderful that you mom still had Margaret's "hair". (I have a little tin box with my daughter's from when she was little and a little baggie with her baby teeth, too.) I find that even though my mom crossed over nearly 19 years ago, I'm still discovering things about her, as if she's revealing them to me herself. Perhaps your moment of imagining your mother's grief was a connection to learning more about your mom, too. Our connections on a spiritual level transcend our brief stints in our earth-bound bodies. I'm imagining you and Margaret playing music together. What a gift that you both were given in learning music!

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