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PROGRAMMING NOTE from the Author and Archivist


So obviously I just stopped blogging on this platform. I'll get back to it eventually. Or not. I'm taking a break from all social media. It seemed necessary for my mental health.

The last few years have been busy and … challenging:

- 2015 Happened.
- 2016 Let's call it The Lost Year. (Obviously words failed me.)
- 2017 about broke me. Literally. Mentally.
- 2018 was ridiculous, proving 2017 was just a warm up. (Good thing I was already broken so it couldn't hurt as much.#2018TrashCanFire I thought things were going okay, but maybe not?)

- 2019 was such a blur. I know there were highlights, but then stuff happened and carried into the next year...

- And then in March#2020 really took a turn. Who can even categorize 2020? Do we dare?


I kinda want a do-over of some of the last few years. But life doesn’t work that way.


So for now, I'm hunkering down. Regrouping. Trying to stay safe and sort some stuff out.


Stay safe everyone. Stay well.

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Friday, March 9, 2012

40 Diamonds for 40: Wherein Jed is Profound

My "baby brother" Jed has had an unenviable lot in life. First he had to follow along after me -- having to share Mom and Dad's affections with an annoying older sister, then, because of our ages, he had to follow me in school and church. Then things got more complicated, as he got bracketed by another sibling. Throw in differences in learning styles, personalities, food allergies, and having to surf the wave of adolescence, hormone surges, learning curves, anger management issues, sibling rivalries, and things I have NO idea about, it's amazing he's ended up as even-keeled as he has.

What people often failed to recognize is that Jed, or MAX, as he likes to be called, is his own unique person, who has depths in him that were, and are, untapped, that his empathy and intelligence levels are actually off-the-charts, and just because he's taken different educational and career paths, doesn't mean that he's actually been headed in the right direction all along. If you leave him alone, don't push him into a corner, let him process things in his own way and time, listen to him, and learn to interpret his homonymic writing style, you will be moved to tears by what he'll do and say and write.

I'm so proud of my brother. Although he'll always be Mom's hungry little son, he's a such a good husband, father, provider, Red Sox fan, and man. I love you. You are the best belated second birthday present after all.


Of Aunt Nettie,

There are a few short things to say about a person with the compassion of a saint, the unselfishness of a monk, and the heart for the giving of a care worker. A person who in their spare time does arts and crafts for others and loves to do so, when she has spare time from walking to the train platform, riding the train into the Big City, getting on the subway, then walking to work and doing it all over it again day after day after day…….and that is just when she is at home near the Big City.

Then there is the traveler Nettie, armed with the traveling Shushing Librarian, who goes out in search of fun and adventure with their camera in tow. From East Coast to West Coast they go, snapping up shots to put on the World Wide Web for all to see. Look carefully and you will see people you know in all the places they go, and look really carefully and you will see pictures from long ago. Where she gets the photos to share is a little secret that is known only to the Nettie.

Not to mention all the recipes that are tried and shared. At any point and time you can go on the World Wide Web and find that Aunt Nettie has shared or tried and photographed many family, friend, or just some random recipe found on TV, newspaper, or magazine. How does one find the time to do all that? But wait, there’s more!

In between all that there are all the books that are gobbled up and read, and read and read. I do not believe there is a book on this earth, fiction or non that has not been read or started by Aunt Nettie. Is this a new phase that has been started in the last few years? I think not. There was many a night early in life that she would be caught reading a book underneath her covers with a flashlight. It is a really good thing there are gifted writers pumping out books, otherwise I think there might be problems.

I have left the best for last. What could be the best, you ask? It is how much her nieces and nephews love her. They look forward to her trips out West to read to them, walk with them (not so much run with them--that’s just silly!) or the time she spends playing board game and card games. In general, just being there to see them is what is loved by all. When a trip can’t be made or the kids feel like it, they can just dial up her number and spend many precious minutes talking with her by phone.

I can’t forget the postcards that come randomly in the mail. Boy you would think someone won the lottery when my kid gets home from school and finds that the postmaster has brought him his very own piece of mail with his name on it. To see someone totally light up by just a few words? It is incredible.

That is what makes Aunt Nettie so great. Being able to love without even knowing it.

Have a great BIRTHDAY.

Jed

P.S If you find grammar or spelling mistakes, you’re welcome to fix them.

(Love ya bro … I did some of them….!)

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