Good days should be acknowledged. And today was one of those days. No tears came today–not that that would have been a bad thing. But for the time being appears i’ve reached my quota of saline production. I made the conscious choice to not work on the memorial soiree, though my “to do” lists are aching for some attention. I spoke to my friend Katie (who also happens to be my sister-in-law) for a good long while last night. She was the cherry–or rather the chocolate covered strawberry of my day.

Earlier in the afternoon I’d received a box of said chocolatey delights as well as a beautiful orchid plant, rife with blooms about to pop. Ken would have gone ape shit over such a gorgeous piece of flora. After marveling at its beauty for an hour, I said to myself, “Now how am I going to keep it alive until she gets here!?” Not good with the “green” (money or plants), my history with such things involves midnight trashcan burials and buying identical replacements more than reaping any long term enjoyment. But as my mom pointed out in an earlier conversation when I was telling her about the thoughtful gifts, I didn’t used to be very good a cooking either, and managed to pick up that talent to a degree, so perhaps next on my self-improvement agenda will be to not kill plants.

I’ll keep you updated.

This plant really is the metaphor for all the love and support I continue to receive from a family so full of love. I couldn’t be more grateful if the plant were plastic.

Happy times lie ahead. Difficult ones too. But for today, I understand how “happy” will fit into my world again.