Time

Well, I usually sleep in on the weekend, and had planned to do so today.  I looked over at the alarm clock without my glasses, and thought it was close to 9 AM.  After I arose, with my glasses on, I realized it was 6:56 AM.  So, I was awake, and up and going, and stayed up earlier than I had thought I was going to.  No big deal.

Take: " I Want Some Attention!"

Taki  is an interesting cat. She often stays to herself, but just as often, seems to like to sleep at my feet when I am working at the computer desk.  Occasionally, she wants to get on the computer desk.  Rarely.

Today, she was busy playing around under foot, under the desk, around the chair.  The desk is open, and has a platform about 4 inches above the floor. She climbed onto the platform from the back of the desk, and hunkered down on the boxes and cords.  Probably not very comfortable, and she did not stay there long.  Then, she sat at my feet, and later, climbed into my lap.  She sat on my lap for a while, but grew tired of that and left.  She is so cute when she wants my attention.  She lifts her front paws, and claws at me or grabs at me, to get my attention.

Haiku and Being Cold

Haiku does not like to be cold.  We have had some very warm weather, and the house has been warm.  I have not turned on the air conditioner. I have just been opening the windows at night, and that cools down the house enough that it does not get too stuffy during the day. There was one day it was stuffy, but I turned on all the ceiling fans and opened the windows, and that took care of it.

I have not shut the heater off, yet, and a couple of nights this past week or so, I shut the windows when the heat turned on. Today, or more like overnight, a cold front blew in. It was grey and drizzly this morning, but by early afternoon, there was some sun, as I left the house to run errands.  I could see the clouds to the north and  west, moving in and it started raining mid-afternoon. It has been windy all day.

Haiku likes to be on the hood of the Vue after I have been driving: she likes the warmth.  And, the dryer is in the garage, so she likes to be in there when the dryer is running. I do not like for her to be in the garage when it is wet, so she was not happy that she could not go into the garage after I returned home.  She could not get settled. When I held her, her ear tips were cold, my clue that she is cold.  I closed the door to the computer room, and turned the space heater on and Haiku settled down almost immediately. 

Boston Sports

Wednesday, April 26, 2017 was a sports special night.  I watched the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox playing at Fenway Park https://www.mlb.com/.  The Yankees won. It was a cold and rainy night, and the ball park was not full, understandably, but it was a good game.

Switching channels, and the Boston Celtics were playing the Chicago Bulls in the NBA play off. http://www.nba.com/ in Boston. If the weather was good, Boston could sustain  two major league sporting event sell outs on the same day. As it was, the basketball game was well attended and the game was a squeaker until near the end. Boston won 108-97.

Friday night, April 28, was a good Boston Sports night, too.  I did not get the Red Sox, but I did watch the Celtics win against the Bulls, coming back from being down 2-0 and winning their Eastern Conference round 105-83.  It turned out that the Chicago Cubs were playing the Red Sox, in Boston, and lost.  Yeah!

Pay Day

Ever since I was employed as a social worker, until November 2016, I was a salaried employee, and my expectation was that I worked until I completed the basic tasks required of me by my employer. So, at most of my jobs, I had the luxury, as I saw it, of working overtime to achieve my task goals vs. feeling pressured to complete tasks within a certain time frame and feeling rushed. I do not like feeling rushed. At some jobs, I was also allowed to accrue comp time, and take it with permission.

So, in 2016, the United States Department of Labor issued a ruling on the Fair Labor Standards Act https://www.dol.gov/whd/overtime/final2016/.  My employer chose to interpret this as anyone in a job category that is below the standard for exempt employees will be considered an hourly employee, not a salaried employee.  That included my job category. So, I am now restricted to working just 40 hours a week, unless overtime is approved, and there is really no reason to approve overtime for my job category. I have learned to adjust to this.

But this also means I am not paid once a month, as I have been used to since I was working, and, as my father was paid since I was a small child. I do remember when my father was changed to a monthly salary, my parents had some tense discussions about managing the family finances, but they did it.

So, sometimes, I lose track of payday, as I did just recently.  Yesterday was payday.  I was making an entry in my checkbook register tonight, and thought payday should be coming up soon. I thought it would be the end of the month, but I logged onto my bank website and lo and behold, there was a deposit in my checking account yesterday.  Hmmm!  I cannot keep up with payday, but I am always pleased when it arrives.

Exercise

Exercising on the Gazelle elliptical is interesting.  If I am watching a baseball game, it is very pedantic.  If I am watching a basketball game, it is very exciting and invigorating. The same is true if I am watching a football game. If I am watching a very interesting TV show, I do not pay much attention to time.  If I am watching something that is sort of blah, I am inclined to check the time often.  If I listen to music while I am exercising, it has to be fast, upbeat, invigorating music, or it defeats the purpose. 

Exhausted Early, Staying Up Late

For the second night in a row, I am exhausted early about 10 PM. How I deal with it depends upon what type of exhaustion I have. Last night, it was mental exhaustion, and I could not find some mindless TV, so I retreated to the sofa and read for a while, until I was ready to go to sleep. That worked, except that I was ready to get up about 4 AM, which was not practical given my schedule. So I dozed in bed and had very strange dreams, and even some hallucinations (which has happened to me before in this situation) but is not psychotic so much as altered state due to changed sleep pattern.

So, tonight, I am exhausted early again. But tonight it is a combination of physical and mental exhaustion, and I know that going to bed at 9:30 PM would be disastrous because I would be up about 3:30 AM and unable to go back to sleep, but it would affect my functioning at work. 

So I persevered until now, about 11:30 PM, and am still not quite ready to go to bed, but ready to read again for a while and then go to sleep.  That will be about the right mix, I think.

Stressed!

It was another cram packed day at work.  Mid-afternoon, I was seeing patients, when I realized I had not done any documentation from the morning group.  One of the security officers told me I looked like I was running ragged. I told her I was. I am still trying to catch up from being on vacation for two weeks, now starting the third week back at work.  This is ridiculous, but I will do what I can and forsake the rest. But keep trying not to forsake anything.

Perceptions

I had lunch with friends and co-workers today, and learned that the co-workers were concerned about me recently, because they thought I was unhappy, or upset, or not doing well.  I explained that I like my work, but upon my return after being gone two weeks, I had new patients to see, groups to make up and added duties to do.  I was just concerned about work load and deadlines, while not working overtime.

They asked me about retiring, and I explained that I was eligible to retire at any time, but I like my work, even if I do not like all of the politics involved.  I explained that when I see changes coming to the unit, I have the luxury of deciding if I want to accept the challenge or not.

I also explained to them that when we started the programs at my place of work in 1995, there was constant change, and the medical director's motto was "Semper Gumby (always flexible)." So, dealing with change is not a big deal. Being flexible is just part of what we need to do. 

Post Workshop Kitties

So the NASW workshop was today.  I loaded my car last night.  One of my coworkers was there, and wondered how I did this morning. I told her I actually could sleep in a little bit, which I did.  I did not think I was stressing this week about the workshop, but I guess I was. Tonight, Haiku and Taki have been much more attentive and demonstrative.

Very interesting the way they responded to my unrealized stress. 

Missing Kitties

I have noticed that Taki and Haiku have not spent much time visiting with me this week, especially Taki.  I am concerned about her, because last night and tonight, when it was treat time, she did not make an appearance.  I know where she is, but I am concerned that she is not feeling well. If this continues, we will make a trip to the vet.

Haiku has come out and about, but is not as attentive as she normally is.  So, this leads me to think that I am not as attentive to them as I normally am.

I am in the throes of preparing for the annual NASW ethics workshop in Lubbock this Friday.  I did the brochure, and mailed and emailed it out.  I have been receiving registrations, and doing the paperwork to get people on the list for the workshop.  Monday and Tuesday, I received 11 registrations, so we have a total of 45 in all.  A little light for our workshop, but there are some extenuating circumstances, and the state office of NASW tells us that 30 is a good turnout (We have had up to 70 in the past.)

So, I have been concentrating on this paperwork, after a full day of work at my day job.  I wonder if my concentration and tension has scared off the cats.  Maybe. Often, when I am doing paperwork (paying bills, for example) Haiku sits on my papers, and I just let her until she moves, then I resume my work.  This week, I have moved her so I could do this paperwork, because of the time frame.  So, maybe, I have hurt her feelings.  I don't know.

I will pay closer attention to this.

Binge Watching Blue Bloods

I do not see myself as a "binge watcher" but I am.  I like Blue Bloods http://www.cbs.com/shows/blue_bloods/ so when I can, I watch it.  Sometimes, late afternoon during the week, WGN http://wgntv.com/  shows several shows. in the late. On weekends, WGN often shows many episodes. I am addicted.

It is interesting to me.  I have seen many of the episodes multiple times, although every once in a while, there is a new episode I have not seen before.  Not from this year. What is really interesting to me is that every episode has more than one story line, and sometimes, I will remember the very details and dialogue of one story line, but not even recall the details or plot of another story line.  I guess it is just what story resonates with me.

The Swallows Have Returned

So, how many years has it been since the swallows have nested on my front porch? They actually returned about 2.5 weeks ago.  They have repaired the nest: there is a small area on the top that has a different color to it, so I think they have rebuilt that area

I try to respect their area, and not invade the front porch. I check the mail regularly. I have overturned the porch furniture, so the local wild cats do not have a good platform from which to launch to try to attack the swallows

I am so excited that the swallows have returned.  I hope that means that the nest on my porch is considered a safe place where they can nest and raise their young. 

Food Trucks

I was first introduced to food trucks when I went to college in 1970.  These food trucks were parked a few blocks from the college dormitory in which I lived. I am not sure when they showed up, but it was probably Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. It could have even been as early as Thursday night. These were full service food trucks that provided restaurant style fast food: heroes, hoagies, submarines, grinders, what ever you call that style of sandwich. Probably pizza slices. Drinks. 

So, fast forward about 30 years, and food trucks show up in Lubbock. The early food trucks are rudimentary grills serving barbeque and the grills are towed behind pickups to their destinations.  Then, food trucks become more sophisticated. Present day food trucks are again the semi-sophisticated affairs that I knew in 1970.  They offer specific and specialty food, and are all decked out.  Lubbock has events that feature food trucks.  Yum.

So, recently, I was at an event that offered brunch from a food truck. It turned out the food truck was a pickup, and there was a grill on the ground, and a tarp covering the grill and a table. The food was great, and the reincarnation of the food truck concept was interesting, a throw back to a time before when food trucks were sophisticated. But, that does not mean the food was not every bit as good as you get in a sophisticated food truck.

I Was So Tired

So, I returned to work on Monday, April 10, 2017, after a 2 week vacation.  A true vacation, during which I did very little strenuous activity.  I really relaxed and did not worry about work. So, I returned to work on April 10, 2017, and had a lot of emails to wade through, and a lot of business that was not tended to while I was gone, although my co-workers did what they could to cover my work while I was gone. It is reasonable that they did what they could, but they had their own assignments, and could only manage the most emergent of mine.  I accept that.

My personal make up is that I feel like I have to get "caught up" in one day.  Of course, that is not going to happen, and I know that intellectually, but viscerally, I want to do that. So, I had a reasonably good day on Monday, my first day back at work. It was busy, but not frantic. But, I felt the pressure. And, when I arrived home Monday night, I was mentally exhausted. I was able to exercise for a while, but the mental fatigue really knocked me out, and I went to bed early as a result.

Sometimes, going to bed early means I wake up in the middle of the night, and cannot go back to sleep.  Last night, I woke up, still felt tired, and tossed and turned but was able to go back to sleep. 

I hate being that exhausted, and to be honest, the rest I am able to get is not as restorative as I would like. But, I got through the night. And got to work in a timely way on Tuesday.

So on April 11, 2017, I was tired but not exhausted, when I arrived home from work. This is better. I hope by the end of the week, I am back in the swing of things.

Years ago, I worked at a facility, and we hired a new employee, who had not been in the work force for some time.  After the first day, she was exhausted.  I remember telling my supervisor about that, and she said "I didn't remember how exhausting returning to work can be."  She worked with the employee to moderate her schedule so she could adjust to being back at work.  What a wonderful, supportive response. But that supervisor was such a wonderful, supportive person.

What a life lesson to learn. 

All Things Happen for a Reason

So this starts on Friday afternoon, when I received a phone call and voicemail.  But, when I tried to access the voice mail, I could not.  It seemed that all of the other features of my smartphone were working as they should be.  So, I decided to get up early Saturday morning, and make my way to the Sprint store https://www.google.com/search?q=Sprint+store+in+Lubbock,+Texas&ie=&oe=#q=sprint+store+locator&rflfq=1&rlha=0&rllag=33541687,-101898444,2468&tbm=lcl&rldimm=10685836465911700353&tbs=lf_od:-1,lf_oh:-1,lf_pqs:EAE,lf:1,lf_ui:3&spf=1052

in the morning.

Well, I thought the store opened at 9 AM but when I checked, it did not open until 10 AM. So, after I got ready to go out, I thought I could try one more time to figure out the problem with my phone, because all the other applications seemed to be working. And, guess what, I found how to reset the phone and access the voicemail. So, when I did this, I was sitting on the sofa, and both of my cats visited me, one after another, while I kept telling myself that I needed to start house work. But, I visited with the cats instead. And, enjoyed it thoroughly.

And, there was a reason for that. Because at about 10:47 AM, I received a phone call from Helen Musiak, wife of second cousin Tom Musiak, informing me that Monsignor James Comiskey had died and his memorial Mass at the Christ the King Cathedral was at noon. http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/lubbockonline/obituary.aspx?n=james-comiskey&pid=184991483&fhid=31760 today.  My bad, I did not think to send an email to the board of directors or executive director of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Lubbock https://www.cclubbock.org/, about the Mass. 

So, I said, of course, I can attend that Mass.   And I am glad I did. In addition to celebrating his life with Tom and Helen, I was able to tell Bishop Coerver and George Comiskey, Monsignor Comiskey's nephew, that he hired me 40 years ago to work for Catholic Family Service for the Laymen in the Amarillo Mission Program (LAMP).  That was a blessing that has continued to bless me for my lifetime in Lubbock.  How do you describe that? I do not know. I am just so grateful now that I am able to give back by being on the board of directors of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Lubbock. 

Ordering Hot Tea

I live in West Texas, and most places that sell refreshments offer iced tea.  Very few places offer hot tea.  The Chinese and oriental restaurants usually offer hot tea.  Some of the coffee shops offer Chai Tea, and herb tea.  Few places offer other types of hot tea.

When I was in the northeast recently, we went to several places that serve food.  My sister would order tea, and specific types of tea at that.  I would also order hot tea. The weather was cold, windy and wet.  Hot tea hit the spot.  We were never turned down.

It is just a different culture.  To be expected.

Emergent Need Resolved

So on my recent trip to Cape Cod, I rented a car from Thrifty https://www.thrifty.com/.  The car was fine.  I was doing a lot of sightseeing in the area, driving from place to place, beach to beach, park to park.  It is really too early for the seasonal places to be open, which means many of the public restrooms were closed, too. 

At Sandy Neck State Beach, I was wishing the restrooms were open.  After I wandered around, I started the car and a light in the shape of a wrench came on the dashboard.  I looked in the owner's manual, but could not identify the reason for the light.  I called Thrifty, and the representative was not really sure at first about the reason for the light, but eventually said it was just a reminder they need to do an oil change. The representative said I could go to Warwick, RI or Cambridge, MA to the nearest Thrifty dealer.  Both were a couple of hours away from where I was.  The representative said that as long as the light was not flashing, it would be okay, if I was okay with it.  I was.  Later, there was a message on the console about needing to get the oil changed.

I called the emergency number for Thrifty, it was the only number I had.  The first question from the representative was "Are you okay."  I told him that I was, that I was parked in a parking lot, and not driving while I was talking.  I like the fact that safety and well being came first.

So, while I was talking to the Thrifty representative, I was facing into an additional parking lot.  In the parking lot, there was a Porta-Potty. Several people used it while I was talking on the phone to Thrifty.  So, with one phone call, two emergent needs were resolved!  I wondered then, how many other locations had Porta-Potties that I did not notice.  Hmmm.

Sandy Neck State Beach

I was at Sandy Neck State Beach MA earlier this week.  There was sand, many inches of it, on the walkways to the beach.  One of the locals said the walkways are usually clear, and will be cleared before the beach opens up later this year. She explained there was a lot of beach erosion due to the weather this year.  It was kind of nice to speak to someone who took a proprietary interest in the beach. 

Old Coast Guard Beach

I was at Old Coast Guard Beach, MA earlier this week.  It was cold, windy and grey.  Two men went down to the beach in wet suits, carrying boards.  The boards looked short, so I have to wonder if they were body boards vs. surf boards.  I could not see down to the beach where they were.  I had to think that they were sort of crazy.  But some people do go into the cold water, to surf or swim.  Mostly as a stunt, which is what I was seeing the beginnings of.

Opening the Door

Taki is learning challenged, and some days, she might remember something she learned previously, and some days, not so much.  On April 5, she was in the bathroom with me, and the door was cracked. She wanted out, but could not figure out how to open the door at first.  I talked her through it, and she was able to open the door.

On April 6, she was in the bathroom with me, and the door was closed tighter than it was yesterday. She wanted out.  I tried to talk her through opening the door, but she could not figure out how to make a crack that would allow her to get her paw in the space and open the door.  Oh well. She did as well as she knew how.

Words With Friends Offline

When the service interruption on Suddenlink occurred last evening, I decided to try to play Words with Friends on my phone.  It indicated I did not have any moves, but I had the wi-fi connected.  But of course, my wi-fi connection was out due to Suddenlink service being interrupted. The minute I shut off the wi-fi, I had moves.  Hmm.   Except, sometimes my cellphone “freezes up” when I do a lot of Word with Friends.  Oh well, with time, all is well.

Service Interruption

Well, after I moved inside last evening, I could not get the flat screen TV to work. Sometimes I shut it down with the wrong remote control, and that is what I thought I had done. But then, I check the other TV, and it did not work, either.  I did not have Internet, either.

So, I called Suddenlink, and obtained a recording that there was a service outage in my area, and they are usually repaired in about 2 hours.  Well, the indications from the TV were that the last time it was working was about 4:30 PM, and when I contacted Suddenlink, it was well after 6:30 PM.  So this outage took longer than 2 hours to repair.

I did sign up for a text message alerting me when the repair is complete.  They even allowed the option that if the repair occurred between 8 PM and 8 AM, did I want to wait until after 8 AM to be notified.  I think not.

I have plenty else to do.  I did some laundry.  I did some work off line, and I blogged off line.  I still had the problem with my mouse that I have previously referred to, but I can make do.

I never did receive a test alert that the problem was resolved. 

I went to bed, and did not realized that I had left the TV on.  So, about 1 AM, I woke up and the TV was working.  Hmmm. That was a long outage.

Sleeping Wrong

I must have slept wrong in the bed last night.  I awoke to feeling aching, stiff and sore. And, then I feel chilly.  The feeling did not improve as the day went on.  I went out to lunch, and that was a mistake. I felt stuffed and bloated and miserable in the restaurant, and could not get comfortable.

I lay down for a while after lunch, and got out the cushion for the outside lounge chair and laid outside and read for a while.

It is only 7:45 PM and I am very, very tired.

Mmmm.  I think this is just a reaction to having been away, under the stress of traveling, especially with the bad weather, and now that I am home and can relax, my body is telling me to take a break.

Well, dummy me ran some errands this morning, and went out to eat.  But now it is evening, and I will try to rest a little.

I still have some errands to run tomorrow.  And I want to get some housework done this weekend.

Computer obstinacy

I do not know what is going on but my computer is being a little obstinate.  Specifically, the mouse is being obstinate.  I am having difficulty blocking to copy and paste.  Sometimes, it works just fine. Sometimes, I can only get part of what I want to block, and sometimes, I cannot get the mouse to respond so I can block anything.  Other times, I can block everything.  Which is what I do, and after I copy, just delete what I do not want, which is faster, sometimes, than re-typing everything.

Oh well, my computer goes through these episodes of quirks that I am used to adjusting to, and then they go away, and things return to normal.

Southwest Airlines Came Through in a Big Way!

April 4, 2017

Southwest Airlines Came Through in a Big Way

It was a cold and rainy morning as I arose in West Yarmouth, MA.  I had planned to leave the motel about 8:30 AM, take the back roads to Rhode Island, and do some sightseeing in the downtown/government district in Providence, RI, if I had time.  I thought my cell phone was charged, and a few minutes before I was going to leave the motel, I realized it was only at 65%. So, I resolved to stay at the motel until the phone was charged 100%.  It took an hour.  So I left an hour later from West Yarmouth than I had planned.

I enjoyed the lazy, slow trip to Providence on the back roads.  I arrived in Providence, but without directions to the parts of town I wanted to see, the historic government buildings. It was cold, grey, and wet, and because of the hour delay in charging my phone, I had less time to sightsee than I had planned. I decided to just go to the airport, get lunch, and use the wireless service to do some computering.

Well, I turned in the rental car and was making my way to the ticket desk, when I received a call from a local number.  They asked if I was on my way to the airport, and I responded that I was at the airport.  The call, it turned out was from Southwest Airlines.  My flight home through Baltimore, MD had been so delayed that I was not going to make my connection to Lubbock, Tx.   But, I could be re-routed to a flight through Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.  I agreed, and a few minutes later, I showed  up at the ticket desk.  I was immediately identified as "the Lubbock passenger," by a ticket agent, not who I spoke to. My accommodations were changed, and I was dispatched to my flight! 

I did make my connection in Dallas as planned, and arrived home in a timely way.  SWA came through!  What team work!  This is how business should be conducted.

Appreciating Home

April 4, 2017

Appreciating home.  I have been travelling the last few days, and have had really good accommodations along the way:  My sister’s home that felt like home, a resort hotel for a wedding, and an economy motel, that had its failings but was adequate for my needs and the price.  Some things make me appreciate home.  Of course, I miss my cats.  Access to familiar stores and their content is important.  And one thing I take for granted at home, a walk in shower.  When I purchased my home in 1992,  I liked the idea of a walk in shower for a couple of reasons.  Although I was planning to put in a “doggie door,” my dog had trained himself to pee on the tile in the bathroom floor in my apartment, so I felt he could be trained to pee in the shower, in an emergency.  Well he so appreciated the “doggie door,” that no other options were necessary. 

However, I also appreciated not having to climb into a bathtub to take a shower.  Well, in 1992, that was a personal preference, not a physical issue.  Technically, it is still not a physical issue, but I have noticed that the step feels higher, and it makes me realize how much I appreciate the walk in shower.

I also appreciate being familiar with local TV programming, which is very different in New England than in Lubbock, Texas.

On the other hand, every bed I slept in had something in common with my bed at home:  multiple layers of covering.  Not one layer is very thick, but every layer adds warmth to a bed.  I appreciate not just the warmth, but the comfort that comes from the weight of covers.

Being with family was great.  But being home is great, too!

April, The Giraffe

April 3, 2017

April the Giraffe.  My sister introduced me to Aprilthegiraffe.com, a website following the gestation of April who lives at Animal Adventure Farm in upstate New York.  This privately owned zoo is in Harpursville, NY  which is near Binghamton, NY.  The director, Jordan Patch, is marketing the birth of this giraffe calf, and getting publicity and donations for his organization along the way.

Patch's family has their own story: 

http://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/connections/2016/06/24/animal-park-owners-baby-faces-fraught-health-journey/85403558/

This is a truly remarkable family!

A Wonderful Trip

April 3, 2017

This has been a wonderful trip.  It started with my younger sister asking me, not once, but twice, to spend time at her house, and even offering to ferry me to and from the airport.  What a generous offer.  I accepted the opportunity to spend time with her, but felt I needed my own vehicle, aware we would have some divergent schedules during this time.  Then, my sister realized she was obligated to give a presentation at a library about her trip to South Africa.  She was concerned about being double booked, but I was delighted to travel with her to the presentation and hear about her first Africa trip.  We made contingency plans in case I arrived late, but all went well with my travels, and I found her house with just a small misdirection, and we were able to travel to the presentation together.

It has been since the fall of 1970, when I moved off to college, that this sister and I shared a bedroom.  After some initial introduction to physical space, it felt like we took up where we left off. I absolutely enjoyed the presentation at the library.  It was wonderful.

I followed her to the resort where the wedding of my niece was scheduled to take place, and we shared a room.  We did some sightseeing that day, and later that night, I was blessed with a personal presentation of her second Africa trip, to Uganda.  How marvelous. 

All went well, even when I lost my room key card, it was not a hardship.  I did not replace it, we just made do.  After the wedding, when we repaired to my brother’s room to visit with another brother, niece, and in-laws on the third sister’s side of the family, all went well. We both showed up with refreshments, and the in-law commented we were raised by the same mother.  How apropos!

The sense of family and belonging during this time is something I have not felt, I think, since the death of my mother.  I have returned to the Northeast since then: the wedding of two nieces, a trip I made on my own, and a Crochier family reunion.  But this was so special. 

Thank you, sister.  You are an amazing women, and I love you very much!