This Weekend We

On Friday I stayed up too late drinking red wine and talking with my friend on the porch. I didn't quite realize how many words there were inside of me begging to come out.  The melancholy of days of gray was lifted, and I felt nearly manic with excitement to have my friend there with me. Made even more exciting by the fact that she has signed a lease and is moving back to Maryland after four years in Brooklyn.

When living in a constant state of sleep deprivation, the consequences of staying up hours past my normal bedtime reverberated through the weekend, leaving me feeling blurry eyed and a bit dull. Even still, it was well worth it.

The sun finally came out on Saturday after a week of hiding. Tom, Arlo, Alamae and I walked down to the beach to get in a few hours of fun before I headed to work. But our trip was cut short when a county sheriff with an assault rifle told us not to be alarmed, but that we needed to quickly head to our cars. I told him we had walked down, and he said we were fine leaving the beach in that direction.  Not being prone to ask questions when we think our children are in danger, Tom and I huffed it up the hill with the babies in the wagon, and hoped to get our questions answered once we were safe inside closed (locked) doors. Although I don't consider myself an alarmist, our house is only a block from the beach and so I was concerned why people were being cleared off. Later that evening I discovered that the police had learned through social media that someone was planning on taking his own life on the beach. Unfortunately, it was too late by the time that they found him.

It breaks my heart to know that someone was so near me and hurting so deeply. It reminded me how terribly important it is to love and love and love.

On Sunday I made brunch at my house, and my parents and two of my sisters came over after church. We ate on our new dining room table that Tom made with the help of our carpenter friend. Afterwards we putzed around the yard. Tom and my brother-in-law played basketball with a gaggle of poorly shoed children. Molly pulled Jettie around in the wagon. Arlo laid claim to my sunglasses and lazily demanded that he be pushed around on his tricycle. Although I had to leave for work in the afternoon, the few hours of sunshine with my family was enough to satisfy any Mother's Day needs.  Later today I'll go plant the herbs that Tom and the kids bought me, labeling each plant with a pencil with names written in sharpie. I don't know why Alamae is thyme and Gus is rosemary, but I bet if I asked Sena, she would have a long, confusing explanation.

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