1971 – with all my sibs and cousins – 8 of us
2021 – 2 gone too soon – missed by 6 of us
—
“a cousin is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost.”
-marion c. garrety
Apr11
Category Archives: family
Apr5
bouncing.
the six-pack is back — bouncing grandies.
—
“joy acts like a trampoline, everything that touches it bouncing right back off of it.”
-mariella frostrup
Jan22
do you remember?
who remembers this?
sitting backwards
making faces
rolling around on turns
cigarette smoke-filled air
fighting over who could sit there
the door that swung open
back window down
best seat ever.
—
“like all great travelers, i have seen more than i remember, and remember more than i have seen.”
-benjamin disraeli
—
image credit: doyouremember.com
Dec16
unusually.
why, you might ask, is this large ceramic cat sitting in the water?
while visiting my friend’s house
i asked.
years ago
someone in the family took a ceramics class
made several large animals
gifted them to his children
who gifted them to each other
left them at each others’ houses
used them in a variety of ways
including an outdoor towel holder
somehow over time
this one went to live in the water
looking back at the family on the shore
probably thinking the family was unusual
wondering their story
there is always a story.
—
“we are not interested in the unusual, but in the usual seen unusually.”
-beaumont newhall
Nov15
carry.
feeling safe walking the streets of ann arbor with these powerfully kind grandies
—
“sports are sports. it’s all about how we carry ourselves out of the ring.”
-george foreman
Nov1
madelines on my mind.
shared a kitchen and an online live cooking class
with one of my grandies today
we had
a fast-working sur la table pastry chef
equipment, ingredients, and time
we both worked hard for 2 hours
improvised along the way
scrambled to find things
as the chef added in a few surprises
like making two royal icings
of different consistencies
all while
white chocolate melted
dark chocolate melted
not burning
never mixing
coloring the icings
buttering and chilling the pan
twice
after many, many steps
we had pretty much trashed the entire kitchen
but in the end
we had created
wonderful french madelines – vanilla bean halloween style
more tiny cakes than cookies.
“cooking is at once child’s play and adult joy. and cooking done with care is an act of love.”
-craig claiborne
Sep13
born.
“the six pack’- my grandies all kind of sitting still in one place at one time
—
on national grandparents day
i am reminded of this afternoon
5 years ago in the park
you always were
from the youngest age
each your very own person
i’m so happy to be ‘peaches’ to every one of you.
—
“when a child is born, so are grandmothers.”
judith levy
Sep11
opportunity.
when hanging outside with a couple of my grandies,
we talked as they worked on creating pictures
taken from online designs
very, very carefully selecting each tiny bead to put into place
i thought it would be a good time to tell them about my cat, olive
who loves to pounce on the jigsaw puzzles on my table
when she finds me in the midst of them
i also thought i would do a mini dramatic recreation of how it all happens
as i pretended to be olive, bouncing my hand on the table
i apparently was a little too into my role
when i hit the table
we all froze for a few seconds
after noticing that all of their hard work
had just been destroyed in the course of my acting.
great recovery though
as i apologized
we all laughed and laughed and laughed at what happened
knowing
that while it would take a long time to rebuild their designs
we also also knew
that life can be so instantly funny sometimes.
—
“the more you find out about the world, the more opportunities there are to laugh at it.”
– bill nye
Aug20
karate.
a family afternoon spent
practicing karate skills, self defense, getting a good workout
socially distant, outside, under a very hot sun
at beacon park, in detroit
lots of sweat, lots of water, lots of fun
“karate is a form of martial arts in which people who have had years and years of training can,
using only their hands and feet, make some of the worst movies in the history of the world.”
-dave barry
Jun21
ride it out.
my dad and whole family in the 70’s
bell-bottomed out
in the midst
of an extended tour
through our hippie phase of life.
—
happy father’s day, dad
miss you.
—
“you can tell what was the best year of your father’s life because they seem to freeze that clothing style and ride it out.”
-jerry seinfeld
