A last round of hugs and our daughter disappears down the long hallway to be outfitted with her new equipment and clothing while we walk cautiously across the January ice to our still warm car. A few minutes ago our family of three walked into True North where our daughter, a young adult, has made the courageous decision to spend three months, mostly outside, during an unusually harsh Vermont winter. After friendly greetings we stood awkwardly in the reception area until the young woman who was to be our child’s primary therapist bounded up and herded us into the little conference room with four comfy armchairs. Instantly I get that we are not to prolong this parting. The therapist must be sure that we are all committed, and that our daughter, who is an adult, is here by her own choice. I glance at my husband but he is wide-eyed and shut-down. As we pull out of the driveway, we are quiet. What is there to say? We know that there is no one we love more t
Today I'll be posting a seat-of-the-pants blog entry, not long and not agonized over as my purpose is to say I hope to be posting in my semi-regular fashion again. The hiatus was not from lack of subject matter but from Real Life, both my own and the fall-out from events that have interrupted the rhythm of life for everyone. I broke my ankle in May. If you can't walk, can't drive, can't go up and down the stairs, you can't do much of anything and everything slows w-a-a-a-y down. I had a huge writing project to finish and the ankle delay made that my priority. The ankle is now functioning reasonably well, PT is still intense, but less tiring, and the writing project is done and sent off. A few weeks ago I started a piece called "Smoke." My daughter has graduated from Dragonfly and has remained in Ashland (OR) where one of the worst fires, small but deadly, started. Mercifully, the day before she had headed to San Francisco to visit a friend. She ended