Thursday, September 30, 2010

A Day With That Boy, Chickens, Dogs, And A Very Tall Man


Well, a day. And a damn good one! And you know what? When you are confronted with a dear friend's "incurable" cancer and proceed to have a party with martinis and music and chicken soup and hot wings and cookies and stay up until after one a.m. and get up feeling fine, you know you lead a blessed life.

And then, when your son-in-law brings you your grandson and the boy can hardly contain himself for joy when he sees you and leaps into your arms and it's a cool day and your husband comes home early and both of you lay down on the bed to get that boy to go to sleep and you get to take a nap with that boy with the cool fall air breezing in through the window over the bed and you do every fun thing with that boy you know to do- well, yes, you know you are blessed.

When you take that boy for a walk down Main Street and you stop to chat with a neighbor and you stop and ask that boy how he's doing and he gives you the biggest grin in the world- okay- blessings.

Yeah. It's been that sort of day. The sort where you have been reminded in no uncertain terms that there may be a tomorrow and there may not be, when you are presented with an entire day spent with a one-year old who is learning to pick up his toys and help you put them away and who laughs like a hyena when you tickle his ribs and who grabs your hands to tell you to tickle him again and where you and your husband reach across a sleeping boy to find each others' faces and kiss- well, you have to stop and pay attention to every damn thing you can fit into your brain and keep.

That sort of day.

I made bread for the first time in forever. It is baking now and Mr. Moon is in the woods and will be home soon and Owen has gone home with his mama and I've talked to Kathleen on the phone (she went home this morning, feeling fine and reports that she is still feeling fine) and I've done laundry and changed about fifty diapers and shared yogurt with the boy and played with him. I am going to share soup and bread with my husband soon and we will go to bed with the windows open and I am just so fucking grateful for this day.

I wish that the doctor hadn't told Kathleen that her cancer is incurable. Or that he had told us sooner. Like, when he told her that yes, she has cancer. I wish because she could have made choices based on more realistic information but you know what? It is what it is and it is what it was three days ago and when I go to sleep tonight, I am going to be thinking of Kathleen on an open cockpit airplane, wing-walking.
That is one of the few things she would like to do that she has never done.

That girl. She flies already. Hell, I don't know how anyone could ever accomplish and do what she does without the power of wings.

Wing Walking.
Truth talking.

The truth is, we have today. We go to sleep and if we are lucky, we wake up and have today again.

Yeah. That's it.

I'm going to go check my bread and I am hungry. As Anthony Bourdain says, "For more." But whatever comes, there cannot be less.

Bonne chance!

Love...Ms. Moon

16 comments:

  1. hey, love you :) Think of me this weekend -got an anxiety-inducing event and I need good thoughts!

    And damn--wing walking, indeed. If anyone can do it, it sounds like she sure can.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ding...Ding...DING...

    That video is adorable...small grandson, tall husband...ohhhhhhh...

    Yes, let's be thankful for each day we awake and treasure each moment.

    Love you, Ms. Moon:)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey, just wanted to say I love y'all.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It does indeed sound like a good day. I hope tomorrow is also filled with many promises.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I can read something as true and uplifting and heartwrenching and bittersweet as this post and it makes me want to become a better person and lie in fields of flowers with my husband and children (I'm serious), and then my eyes skitter over to the right of the screen and I read the words "Famewhore Squirrel Welcomes Motherfuckers to Sarcastic Bastard" and "Mommy wants vodka" which remind me it's also possible to smoke cigarillos and get crazy on martinis (after the kids go to bed, of course).

    It is absolutely hilarious and one of the reasons I adore your blog...

    ReplyDelete
  6. ... and if we are lucky, we wake up and have today again.

    I love that

    xoxoxo

    ReplyDelete
  7. SJ- She may well be a reincarnated Amelia Earhart. I would not be surprised. Okay. I am thinking of you, sending love.

    lulumarie- Love you, too. I do.

    DTG- And we love you. Always...mama

    Syd- I'm going to make it as best as can be.

    Screamish- Hey! Life is about being well-rounded and eating a variety of foods. And so forth. I loved this comment. Thank-you.

    Elizabeth- Might as well say "yes," right?

    Michelle- Groundhog Day was a fabulous movie.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm glad you are savoring your moments.

    I'm sending all the healing thoughts I can to Kathleen. If anyone can beat incurable cancer, it's her.

    xo

    ReplyDelete
  9. The boy is looking good, and it is always good to be reminded that we should be grateful for what we have. So thank you for this post because I needed the reminder.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This was just a treat. You are as wise as you are beautiful, Marmee. I love you so much.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Yes. A perfect day. May you have many more, and be just as present and grateful for them.

    I see Kathleen riding in a biplane, scarf blowing in the wind, but wing walking! Yikes!

    I'm going to go looking for a perfect day of my own. Hugs.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am glad you had such a lovely day. It sounded pretty swell.

    Mucho love,

    SB

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh what big life. Big hugs to you.

    ReplyDelete
  14. "...you have to stop and pay attention to every damn thing you can fit into your brain and keep."

    Amen.

    ReplyDelete

Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.