Bring a Bum to Your Birthday & Letters Home

Ah, yes. I realized yesterday that in typical fashion, I went off on a tangent and never finished the bring-a-bum-birthday party story. (And that phrase is *not* a judgement. It's just alliteration. I'm a sucker for sound-binding.)

If I remember correctly, R. went on to tell him when her birthday was and that we lived in the green house (did he know the one?) and that there would be a cake. And I think he sort of mumbled that he probably wouldn't be able to come. And I agreed that he probably wouldn't be able to come. I confess. I am not as enlightened as I'd like to be. I'm working on it.

I don't recall for certain, but I think that R's parting comment as he shuffled off was, "Maybe next year?"


Here are the letters she sent home from camp this week:

"Dear S.,
How are you? I
miss you alredey.
Write soon. Right now
I'm in my cabin listen
too the two most
anowing grils. Well I got
to go. Bye!
R.

P.S. Send some more notes."

- and -

"Dear mom and PaPa
I made a friend
Katie as sone as
I got Here. she is
so nice. She has
Dirty Blound hair.
And Blue eyes.
Heres wate she Looks Like."

...complete with a sketch of Katie, who D. said was fortunate to have R. for a friend, because judging by the picture, she had some serious anatomical challenges, such as her right arm being attached directly to her rib cage.


I love my kids. I find this amazing, considering the fact that even though I pushed them out of my body and they're flesh of my flesh, and I know that I'm responsible for their well-being and for raising them to be good, strong, loving people, they are really just strangers who happen to live in the same house where I live and who deplete my energy and time on a daily basis.

It's maybe more amazing considering that even though I have a great capacity to think well of pretty much the whole world, I have a very limited capacity to express love.

I'm working on that too.

And you know what? My kids are teaching me. I think it's no accident that, frigid detached soul that I am, I have been given two of the most affectionate people on the planet as daughters.

See? See? There's a reason for everything.