12

Image via ebay

12

From the time I was born until the time I turned 7...

I had a Blankie...

She was the first of it's kind..

1960's wash and wear acrylic..

Freeing all those Mothers of countless hours as they were able to just plop it into the washing machine at any given moment...

She was absolutely gorgeous..

A soft baby blue in hue in an open basketweave that felt like cashmere upon your cheek and with the smoothest of silk satin 1 1/2" binding..

Wherever I went..

Blankie went..

I wasn't a pacifier baby..

that was my brother's gig....

I was a Blankie baby.. 

I would spend countless hours gliding my fingers over the cool slippery silky satin..

and at much to my Mother's chagrin..

I would move from the satin and rub my thumb knuckle over the course acrylic thread binding and then back again to the silky satin..

Over the course of those early years, she offered friendship, tranquility and security for my ever changing childhood.

Towards the end, Blankie's cashmere basketweave had become coarsely matted and quite sadly, just a mere foot in length...

What remained in tack..

was my beloved satin binding..

Still silky and still rough all at the same time.

At 7, she was left under a pillow in a San Francisco hotel and even to this day (in my forties), I lament her loss.

So as I sit here today under a beautiful blue sky, I am lovingly reminded about the number 12 and what it all means..

After 12 years..

Most warranties have expired...

Our bodies are challenging us daily..

Our minds...

well let's just say they are starting to show signs of fog..

If there are children,

they have now hit the age to be left on their own..

Individually, we have been granted more independence..

But

our dance..

our dance has become like a Fred Astaire choreographed number

and

our lives have become, as they say, smooth as silk..

But

There is still a roughness to it...

In 12 years, there is always an inevitable loss of a loved one

or perhaps

beloved friends move away...

But

like the soft yet strong open basketweave..

We have been giving each other more space to grow

Yet

we are bound stronger and tighter than ever from a thread that is surprisingly soft like cashmere but as impervious as acrylic.

So today on our 12th wedding anniversary..

I thank my beloved husband and 3 sons(minus 1)

for allowing me to be who I am..

for not allowing life's roughness to break our strings..

for giving me friendship, tranquility and security..

for the laughter and our own perfectly choreographed dance moves..

and

for the love and compassion of a family..

  

As 12 marks the gift of silk..

may our lives be ever so smooth...

11

Image by Chocolate Creative Design

11

They say that Steel marks the 11 year anniversary.

Luckily for us, Tall One, that we just so happen to be in a steel tube flying over some of the most gorgeous landscape our country has to offer. Even though all of our boys aren't with us now, I know that very soon we shall be a family of five again.

To think...

We started out as two

then three

then four

and now finally five.

How wonderfully lucky we are..

to be wrapped around their fingers
 

10

Image by Jinsey Dauk
7/21/01

10...
How can it be? 
Sometimes it feels like 20, other times it feels like I am just about to gently step into my dress..I am not going to lie...it's not been an easy road..Although, I figure that it's kinda like learning how to ride a bike..There is no instruction manual and you have to have courage and faith in order to do it....There's an unsureness to it at first.....both legs and feet have to work together to find the rhythm...then you glide..It gets easier and you become bolder so you pick up speed, soar down a hill with both arms held open like you can fly...then... the littlest pebble can make you tumble, fall..There may possibly be bruises, possibly gravel stuck in your side and even stitches..but.. 
you get back on and you are gliding again...

Exactly 12 days ago, we had a cousin who was married in the exact same spot as we were...The sky was blue (the tall one would argue and say ours was cloudless), the temperature..perfect and the breeze...just a mere brush stroke on your back..After dinner as the sun set, we walked the same walk, in the same exact spot that we had done a mere 10 years earlier and watched from afar.....the Fabulous Mr. Jerry Browne had started spinning in perfect Jerry form..Under the tent, the dance floor was packed full of cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and friends. Smack dab in in the middle of it...was the Monster...dancing his little heart out and seriously busting a move to a little Michael Jackson...
Under those same stars...we were there...hand in hand...
Again, I am not going to lie but I became a little overwhelmed (in a good way) and I think a couple tears welled up in the corner of my eyes.
Together,we are were able to watch what we had promised to each other 10 years ago. Love, commitment, and family. We had received our wish...Us hand in hand, our Monster as happy as happy can be...surrounded by THE most important people in our lives...
They say it takes a village to raise a child...
Well my friends...I am lucky to say that we certainly have one...

So in my instruction manual, 
that I have been writing for just 10 years, 
says:


Always keep your feet moving, in unison as best as you can. 
If you stumble or fall it's best to immediately get back on and start peddling again.


Happy Anniversary my Tall One..
I am so glad to be on this glorious ride with you..
Maybe this year we can get a bell!