We Share Butterflies

"A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie."

-Tenneva Jordon

This year has certainly had it's moments. At times it has seemed jammed packed with bad news, if not for America in general, then for us, on occasions. I knew 2008 was going to be a bumpy ride, when the pipe in the wall behind the toilet decided to become hopelessly clogged on January 1st! LOL Whew... what a way to start a new year! LOL. But then February brought the untimely death of Alan's wonderful brother, and March began with the death of our friend, and landlord P. Elvis was diagnosed with Cancer in April, and that hit us just as hard, if not harder, then all the previous bad news. Alan and I had a lot to deal with over the summer, but we came through just fine, on the prayers of friends and family. October came along, and it was mixed with sorrow and joy, as we lost our Elvis, but gained Hendrix and Dylan. Our new fur babies, that make us smile every single day.

Life is a roller coaster, I keep forgetting that. With the sweet comes the bitter. Yesterday, I got a call from the pastor of my parents-in-law's church. It seems my MIL suffered a heart attack a couple days ago! She is in the hospital right now. The doctor performed a, Cardiac Catheterization, and found that some minimal damage was done, but he isn't doing anything for it. Apparently whatever damage that happened will either fix itself, or doesn't need any additional repair. Either way, I am thankful she is resting comfortably. My MIL means a lot to me. She has always treated me like a daughter, rather then some strange creature that lured her son into the depths of HELL! LOL. Over the 19 years we have been related, we haven't had one single argument. Have we disagreed? You bet! Was it ever so bad that we couldn't agree to disagree... NEVER!

We have shared many things over the years. We sent books back and forth, and compared and shared recipes. Which, let me tell you is completely intimidating, because she is a chef and nutritionist! Yikes! And yet, I managed to impress her with a couple recipes of my own. At least she said she was impressed. LOL. We sent photos back and forth, and she was so enamoured with Elvis, that she actually began her very own, Grandma's Baby Book, to share with all her friends the photos of "her cat" Elvis. She is a lovely, strong, impressive woman, and I felt cheated when she and Dad moved away from the Bay Area just a year after Alan and I wed. I worry about them both, so far away, but fortunately they have a lot of folks around to take care of them and look out for their needs. I just wish I lived closer.

It sounds like she will be coming home from the hospital early next week, and I know someone will have them over for the holiday, but I wish Alan could spend Thanksgiving with them. You never know what can happen, and in that he has always had a happy and healthy relationship with them, it just seems like he should be there. We took a hard hit, financially, after Elvis's illness. We wouldn't change a thing, we have no regrets about giving him chemo, but the cost of everything has made traveling way to expensive to just pick up the phone and book a flight. Hopefully, the economy will get better in time. We'll see. For now, while going back east is out of the question, we are close in our hearts. Please keep my MIL in your thoughts and wishes. I just know if you could meet her, you would love her as much as I do. One of the things we share most often, was our mutual love of butterflies. Every time I see a lovely butterfly I think of her, so the picture above is just for her. :)

-Carly
"Beautiful Butterfly"
Conservatory of Flowers
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, California
Spring, 2008
Afternoon