A son and family

Your children have their own lives, intertwined but still going in different directions eventually.  Hey son, they are living with you (your 3 daughters) for just a moment in their lives, and then they'll be gone.  Hey mom (my daughter-in-law) you can only hold them for so long, then they will listen to their own inner voices.

I was so happy to have a brief visit with them this evening (Tues.) as they whizzed past on their way from one place to another.  I'm not the destination in their lives. But fortunately I'm near lots of interstates, and can go from my home to where their route is going.  We have a meal every year or so that way.

I wish they had had time to come to my house.  It sits here empty except for a few friends who drop in.  No kids that just know the door is always open for them.  That was not the case even my own life with my own grandmothers.  We were removed, kept separate...so something that wasn't approved of wouldn't infect us.  OK, that's a bit extreme.

My children who are parents, are very responsible, and care a lot for their little ones who are almost all grown, like these 3, or are all the way grown up but still living at home like my other 3 grands.  The youngest of my grands will turn 12 in a couple of weeks.

I admit that I didn't take parenting as seriously as these men (my sons) are...but then maybe it's a male thing.  I know I felt a real disaster as a mother many times.  And then I had the gall to be a single parent and take all kinds of responsibilities that I wasn't at all prepared for.  No wonder things turned out the way they did. And it might have been part of why they are such good parents!

However, each of my 3 sons are grown, and in relationships, and seem to be living pretty happy lives.  So no matter what the quality of their parenting may have been, they've turned out fine.  I love them so much, and am so proud of each of them.

Personal perspectives

 I made the sangria pitcher, which is held by my son here.  The little grimlin hooked over the side is an avatar, a paper-doll model of herself, made by my granddaughter.

 I wanted an activity for my grands when I visited them several years back, so we took photos and computer edited them, then glued them onto card stock and cut them out, then added some stand-up features like paper-doll models have.

We then spent a day going all over their familiar sites and taking photos with the avatar in the foreground and the signs of their parks and restaurants in the backgound.  But alas, I've lost all those photos with many times moving them from one flash drive or another.  Below are the three avatars we made, propped on the pitcher.

Granddaughter has her own face and body, grandson (in green shirt) enjoyed doing some cubistic editing, and mine is a self portrait with marker pens.

These memories are shared as prompted by the Sepia Saturday meme this week.

A real (no editing used) juxtoposition of my head in front of some scenery from Mt. Mitchell, NC.

Here I'm just enjoying a rocking chair in front of the White Squirrel window (which alas is no longer like this) in Brevard, NC

A friend plays tour guide by one of the beautiful waterfalls in NC...this is one you can walk behind.  Dry Falls, NC 

Today's Quote:

"Whichever road I follow, I walk in the land of many gods, and they love and eat one another. Suddenly all my ancestors are behind me. Be still, they say. Watch and listen. You are the result of the love of thousands.” 

~ Linda Hogan, Dwellings: A Spiritual History of the Living World

The statues in the zoo

A few years ago I took my grands to the Tampa Zoo.  It's in Lowry Park and is a lovely zoo.  I've been there several times, and remember what a laugh it was back in the early 70s when we first moved to FL.  But by the 2000s it became a place to enjoy and learn for intergenerational fun.

At the bat exhibit my grands decided they were also hanging upside down, thus their hairs being "pushed" against gravity.  Not sure about how they knew what a bat's facial expression might be!

We were out early in the morning to beat the heat, but the Koala was determined to still sleep-in.

Did she really want to pet the goat, or not?  Hope you don't mind my interspersing some animals with the grandchildren's pictures.

Yes, that's exactly the pose for the penguins..maybe less the shades and sandals.

My favorite exhibit...

Oh look, he's thirsty for water!

 Isn't that cute!

Guess that's enough looking through fences at zoo animals for today.  I'm giving this post to Sepia Saturday, even though these statues are alive.  Come over to see other folk's posts where there may be some statues that are man-made (HERE).

Arriving at The Consultant's Home

I came into a small NY town right after a huge wind event

I got pretty turned around from New Jersey onward.  Finding the correct lane, the right thru-way, or whatever they were called, I finally got off one of them in a nice sounding town.  Pleasantville, I think, reminding me of a movie.  I expected perfection and black and white scenes.  I'd just dodged a rain storm, which didn't help me glance from mapquest to road signs and get across enough lanes, this is a GPS-free car.

I drank a coke at MacDonalds, then looked for the road signs that would take me back where I wanted to go.  There were no highway signs anywhere in this town.  Streets had names, but nothing to designate the turnpike I'd just left.  So I wandered in my car, avoiding wires hanging in the street, and saw all the neighbors looking at this huge tree. At least this house didn't seem to have much damage.  Eventually I got on the right road to an entrance to the thru-way and made it to CT.

My son, The Consultant moved to CT a couple of years ago.  He is married with three daughters.

The Consultant and wife, The Care Giver in her wedding portrait

playground behind the house

The Care Giver is a lovely wife and mother

The Care Giver with her mother, Grandma, and her husband, Grandpa G.

I got there in time for a birthday dinner, which I shared with Grandma, The Care Giver's mother, who's birthday is 5 days after mine.  So my 69th was shared with her 72nd.  That was fine!

It was great fun, and I drank a bit too much wine probably.  (I'm learning that I tell all kinds of interesting stories once I've done that...and I avoid it now.  At least the kids had left the room by then.)

The 3 princesses, from left The Bunny, The Dancer, and The Actress

Please remember, in years to come, that these nick names are just temporary and don't have much meaning in reflection upon the children's personalities.