Thursday, December 7, 2017

This life


Things happening in my world:

1. My husband has begun the last phase of his medical treatment, which will likely last several months. My heart will not rest until this is completed. He appears nonplussed. I don't think he truly realizes how badly he scared us.

2. My daughter came over last night and told us that the mother of one of her friends has been placed on hospice care. The daughter is having a wedding dress party with her friends and her mom so she can pick out the dress she will wear on a day in the future when her mother won't be here. This just about broke me. There is more to this story that I wish I could share for its aching beauty, but I won't. The family deserves their privacy.

3. Having sent the full draft manuscript to my subject, I am twisting with anxiety to hear how it has landed for her, whether she feels I got her voice, did justice to her story. She's traveling this week and doing her advocacy work, and I likely won't hear anything for weeks. It's always a hard wait.

4. On the good side, I woke up this morning eager to get to my next project, a book proposal for a rather dynamic woman, who I interviewed at length this past Tuesday. She's a storyteller this one, a model of resilience and optimism despite so many hard passages in her life. My brain has finally made the shift to her project. I know because I dreamed about it in the hours before waking, and by the time I opened my eyes I was full of new ideas. The time frame on this project is a little crunched, as I lost a lot of time when my love was ill, but we will make it work. I really like this woman. When my husband was just home from the hospital, she emailed me and said I should not stress about her project, because "we must be human first." I so appreciated that. At the same time, she has a period of visibility coming up during which her agent needs to be doing the rounds with her book proposal, trying to make a sale. So I need to not mess that up.

5. My son called me on Monday afternoon after his big midterm for the intensive nine-month paramedic course. He'd been studying for it for weeks and scored a 92, the second highest score in the class. The highest score was a 93. He called to tell me because he knew I would share in his happiness. If you knew what school used to be like for this child of mine, you would understand how gratifying it is for him to finally understand that he is smart and capable academically. He's finally realizing what his dad and I knew all along: that he is a creative and original thinker, and when he masters a set of factual relationships, he will know them forever. It's how his mind works. He notices everything all the time and traps it in memory. But he continually takes in so much information, it took him till well into college to know how to filter through it all to perform on tests. Now's he's found his niche in the world, and he's working hard and doing well. I'm so very proud of him.

6. Bob Muller for the win. But can we please get there a little faster?

7. Our tree is up. It's perfect.



10 comments:

  1. So much news! I'm really happy that your husband is on the final stretch of this particular journey. I am sorry for your daughter's friend and her mother. What heartbreak. I feel certain that your subject will love what you've done with her story. How could she not? And as to the next subject (hopefully!) what a wonderful thing she said. "We must be human first."
    Your son! Hurray for him and for his parents who believed in him with all of their wise and educated hearts! And now he begins to believe in himself...
    Which is the key to everything, of course.
    My hope about the Mueller investigation is that he is going carefully and slow in order to nail it without doubt. Hopefully. Hopefully. Hopefully.
    Because I can't take much more of this every day's dose of fresh hell and I fear that our country can't either.
    Your tree IS perfect. I love pictures of your home.

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  2. When life comes together, it's beautiful.

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  3. You have a wonderful life...I hope all goes well for husband and son and I'm sorry for your daughter's friend and her family. That situation will change your daughter's friend...The dress party is a brilliant idea.

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  4. Your home is just perfect. I love it when you post pictures. Hope your husband continues to progress rapidly towards being done with the recovery.

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  5. The challenges of life. Ever changing. So sad re. your daughter's friend and her mother. Your talent for writing manuscripts is impressive. Like your son, sounds like you found your niche. Your tree is beautiful. I love Christmas! Susan

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  6. "We must be human first." I love that! Someone with her priorities straight. I'm glad your husband's recovery is continuing and congrats to your son for doing so well!

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  7. I love checking in here and reading the beautiful enthusiasm of life in your posts. All the compassion and energy, the love and kindness abound. Every word written in the language of your heart.

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  8. Your life is following a good script. Congrats to your son and heartfelt wishes to your daughter for looking after a friend going through a hard time.
    Your husband's stamina is amazing and not a little of it must be due to the power of family.
    And, there's yourself, wordsmith and writer, what an achievement!!!!!

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  9. The wedding dress made me cry. What an incredibly beautiful thing to do. But so sad.

    Your husband is improving, your boy is reaching goals that most can only dream about and your tree is up and gorgeous. Your manuscript is in. Bask in it.

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  10. Congratulations to your son - he has clearly found his calling. I'm so glad your husband is doing well and has almost finished his treatment. Very moving to hear about your daughter's friend's family and how they are trying to make the most of the time together. If only we could all have that sense of urgency without the sad ending.

    Best of luck with the new project.

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