Easter

Holidays are hard. Easter, the most joyous of holidays, was hard.

Not for any particular reason and not because anyone said any thing wrong. Perhaps it all becomes a little more real on holidays. They present an opportunity to sit down and reflect and remember, something I seem very capable of avoiding.  It's another time the family gathers and Maggie isn't there.

This year none of my kids were at Grandma's house for brunch. Tim was working and Eddie is in Southern California. While I always wish they could be with us, their absence doesn't hurt like Maggie's does.  They are out living their lives exactly as they should be.

Maggie lived her life exactly as she was supposed to too.

 I just wish she still was.

I miss that girl.

I miss knowing my role in the world when she was here.

Here's to remembering Happier Easters and Maggie's giant laugh

She's laughing because she just realized that's her brother Eddie in the Easter Bunny suit

Easter Recap

Hope all who celebrate had a Happy Easter. We went to a fun and raucous Easter Brunch at my mom's house. I believe we were 26 total with lots of siblings and cousins. It was fun. I never sat down to eat at the Brunch because I snagged so much bacon while I was cooking in the morning.

I was in charge of the meat and I cooked a ridiculous amount of bacon and sausage. This is 9lbs of Bacon and there are 3 lbs of sausage underneath that.  Vegetarians should avert their eyes. Of course it was too much and I gave out meat party bags to Tim and two nephews.

Maggie loves these gatherings with her cousins. there were 10 or so out of a total of 20 cousins there ranging in age from 17 to 27.  The vibrant energy of this crowd together cracks her up. And every cousin checks in with her, and of course she adores the attention. My nephew Jeff turned 18 yesterday so there was cake and singing, which is also hilarious in Maggie's view of the world.  Maggie wore her fancy Greek sandals, and in our own little Easter miracle, they stayed on her feet until we got home. Actually she lost one in the driveway as we arrived home, but that is a new record.

We came home and I read my book while Steve and his dad watched the masters on television. We had a quiet dinner of Easter ham. This was the traditional Easter dinner when Steve was growing up and it is for many others as well. Not me, though. I absolutely HATE ham and had vegetables and potatoes for dinner. Maggie and I hung out while Steve took his dad home. She snoozed in her chair, exhausted from a day of celebration and  revelry.

Back to the grind today. And there will be no cured meat of any kind allowed in this house for a week or so.

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My letter to the editor is in the SF Chronicle today. It doesn't appear they edited it at all. Three or four others also took issue with the suggestions that the city charge $500 for a handicapped placard. You have to scroll down a bit to get to it.  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/04/09/EDC31O02T3.DTL

Chasing my bunny tail

We had a busy morning. I did our usual morning routine with a few extras. First of all Grandpa Ed is staying  with us this Easter weekend. We were gong to lunch at my moms with three of my sisters and some of their kids. I thought lunch was at 1:00 and had everything timed to the minute. I made the first part of my casseroles before church at 9:30 and finished when we got home. It would be done at 12:30 and we could take it over to Grandma's house hot and ready to eat. If need be I could re-warm it in her oven.

As it turns out, that really wasn't necessary. at 12:15, my sister called my cell and asked where we were. Putting on my best wise ass response I said, "I'm home, where are you? She said, "waiting for you." What? Yeah. Lunch started at 11:30. Oops. We were just sitting around but the casseroles weren't quite done. Br the time we got Maggie downstairs and into the car it was only about five minutes short. Close enough for government work.

I put them next to Tim in the car and gave him the over mitts.Everyone was already eating when we got there, but they did scarf down the food anyway. We had to leave when everyone else did because it takes three or four guys to get Maggie down the stairs. When my nephews left, we had to go too, so I barely spent any time with my mom, but that's my own fault.

Now I'm making Easter Dinner for Steve and my father in law. Maggie will be here, but doesn't eat anything but her own food. Tim went back to his apartment..

 Maggie was resplendent in her easter colors.  

Hope your Sunday was great.

 

Easter

Happy Easter to all who celebrate. Don't stuff yourself on all that candy. And to those of you that don't celebrate, happy Spring. I hope you get a little piece of chocolate today.

Maggie wanted and received an Easter dress, which she will adorn in the morning. Maggie doesn't wear dresses very often because it's hard to make them work with her wheelchair, but she was so excited I couldn't say no. I will post a picture.

In the meantime, enjoy the bunnies.

Dance of Joy

In this house, the first day back to school after a vacation is a great day. Both Maggie and I are happy for opposite reasons. I am happy to have the freedom and Maggie is happy to have some structure to her day. Weare each doing our own version of the Dance of Joy. It’s a win win.

Spring Break was boring for Maggie. It was rainy and cold and many of our outings were cancelled because of rain or because we were waiting for painters or because her chair was broken. There was a lot of hanging out. As fascinating a personality as I am, that gets a tad boring for Maggie.

I really do not understand why they have the vacation the week before the holiday. Despite sitting around for most of the week, Easter Sunday was busy busy busy and Maggie went back to school exhausted. Not every student celebrates Easter, of course and many of those who do celebrate don’t get as wiped out as Maggie does after an outing, but it is curious nonetheless.

We had two affairs yesterday first to my mom’s house for an informal lunch with my sibs and a few cousins. At the last minute, we decided to leave Maggie home so she would have the stamina to make it out to my in laws house later in the day. That proved to be a good plan. The nurse came at 7AM and Steve and I went to church, made food and headed over to my moms.

Maggie’s stamina was the main reason for our decision, but we also have to consider the difficulty of getting Maggie into a place when the boys are not here to help. (Their Spring break was a couple of weeks ago.) Between my shoulder and Steve’s back, it would have been too much to get Maggie up the stairs to my moms. My nephews would happily have helped, but sometimes you just have to say “enough” and give in to the situation.

My in-laws were very pleased to see Maggie and she was on her best behavior. She loves the long car ride over there because it means either Steve or I have to sit in the back with her so we can suction if need be. It was I this time – Maggie helped me with the crossword puzzle.

Overall, it was a lovely Easter. I do miss the boys and the (non)traditional egg hunt we always had when they were little. Steve always did a fantastic job utilizing their toys to display the eggs. We had teenage mutant turtles, G.I.Joes, and all sorts of sport figures holding little chocolate eggs. Because he knew I was nostalgic, he set up a few on the stairs to surprise me. I had to send this picture  to the boys to say Happy Easter. I hope you all had a good Easter weekend, even if it’s not a holiday you celebrate