Dear Devin,
You told me over dinner that Grandma has taken you to Chuck E. Cheese like a million times.
You lamented the fact that I have never taken you to Chuck E. Cheese’s since we’ve lived in Florida.
“Yes, well, Grandma is clearly a better parent than me,” I told you.
“Can I move in with Grandma then?” [...]

.!.
“Mom, when are we going to change houses again?”
Emma doesn’t speak to me for the first half of our morning drive to daycare.  I think it takes her that long to get over being pissed about having to get up in the morning.  I can tell she’s over it when she suddenly launches into conversation.
“I [...]

I knew Devin was fine. He had told me as much on the phone when he had insisted “I love you too Mom, but I gotta go now!” Devin had spent the first 7 years of his life amongst a sea of familiar faces before being transported to Florida and an existence of [...]

Today is the day I’ve been waiting for… almost. Kind of.
Today, the last of The Company flies home.
And tomorrow I will revel in the fact that I have my house back. Tomorrow I will come home from work and eat what I want, without worrying about making a good impression. Tomorrow I [...]

I’ve been wanting to write this here for a while.  But it’s long and it never seemed the right time, until now.
My mother and I went to Church together this past Mother’s Day weekend, which is a rare treat because we hardly ever make the same Mass.  She sat beside me during the homily and [...]

Thanksgiving is supposed to about family.  And food.  And laughter and joy and wonderful things.
It’s not supposed to be this.
Thanksgiving is not supposed to be sitting on a cold, hard pew in an empty funeral home.  My brothers are sitting beside me, too young to grasp how wrong this all is.
Family.  And friends.  And rooms [...]