Every Friday evening,
I sit down with my camera,
my computer,
and my favorite drink.
Tonight it's a mini can of Coke.
As I flip through the photos,
keep my favorites,
delete the bad ones,
and sharpen up my very favorites
to save in the blogosphere.
Then I like to find the commonality
as I work for a title.
What is the thin,
red
thread
that weaves the week together.
Kind of like this Chinese proverb,
but with events,
not people.
This week came easy:
Joy and Pain.
Nearly every event fit into one category
or the other,
with not much in between.
We'll start with a joy,
and it's a big one.
We celebrated this Legal Adult's birthday
two days early,
making this Future Math Major
17.994520548
years old at the time of the cake cutting.
On Sam's real birthday
he was in Myrtle Beach, SC
playing his first game of the season.
Sam's joyous entry into the world
was definitely my most painful
labor and delivery.
Grandma found herself in the throes of horrific pain.
She has returned home
from her hospitalization
and is recovering well.
Our family had a painful loss this week.
We are reeling from the unexpected passing
of Dear Aunt Joby.
How she will be missed!
This is a snippet from her obituary.
Her favorite quote was from Madeleine L’Engle. “We do not draw people to Christ by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.”
She lived every day as a true testament to her faith.
Aunt Joby had tons of hobbies.
She was a great storyteller
and always had an anecdote to add to any conversation.
She came to my book club that is not a book club
as often as she could.
Her last recommendations to read
were:
and these by Abraham Verghese.
A beautiful example of Joy and Pain
standing side by side in the real world
comes from this week's Survivor episode.
Eva, a contestant,
has Autism,
unbeknownst to many of the other players.
This is the challenge that brought about
an episode of extreme emotional dysregulation.
She was helped through it
from a competitor.
This is what people with autism
need when their emotions become so severe
they cannot gather themselves back together
without help.
Here is the kind intervention.
Joy and pain all rolled together in one.
And that,
Dear Readers,
has been my week.
Eloise is extremely low on sleep,
so I'll be hiding out at the Lamp Post
most of the weekend.
4 hours one night
Followed the next night with
a little over an hour.
I could use a little emotional regulation myself!
Enjoy the weekend readers.
Eloise
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