"Call me right when it happens."

This is what I told my mom just now.
My grandmother is slowly passing away in my mother's living room.
She's certainly old (94) and definitely ready.
But it's always hard to say good-bye for real.
:::::

I started writing this poem about my grandma when I was homesick and living in Switzerland back in '03 and finished it just right now:::

a muffled whistle and a jigsaw puzzle,
and a book I could always read again.
a tire swing and a parfait pie,
an alligator cup in my hand.

dominoes and skip-bos,
and American Movie Classics.
you bathed me and you sang to me,
growing up, as i was fragile.

a bloody toe in a baking pan,
the shovel of disaster.
lots of love and forgiveness,
wrecking trucks in the pasture.

snapping peas in patio rockers,
picking pecans with my hands.
rollerskating, driveway circles,
infinity in our hands.

you were blessed to be loved twice,
by two kind and loving men.
i am hurt to think you gone,
but richer to have you mine.

~~~~

i hope she understands how much it all meant to me.

when you were 12

A friend of mine, Allison, once said when trying to figure out your life's vocation you should think back to what you were doing when you were twelve::

What were you interested in?
What were you dreaming about?

Me? I was listening to my "French at a Glance" cassette tapes like crazy. Repeating my numbers, une a dix, over the sound of the shower, listening to greetings while falling asleep and designing quizzes on my bedroom floor for all the nouns and adjectives in between. Later it was German words and phrases taped all over my college dorm room and car and then came Spanish with a little Bengali, Russian and Nepali in between. SOO, as daunting as it has been to choose just one field of study for grad school (Linguistically Diverse Education aka "ESL"), I'm thinking this has been a subject that I have consistently been interested in since I was at least 11 or 12 so it should be safe.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

Recent Encouragement: maybe this is a sign::: So far this summer I have had kids in my group who speak: Hebrew, Korean, British English, French, Swiss German, German German, Afrikaans and American Sign Language (that's right no Spanish, the camp's in Boulder not Denver). So, I have just loved getting the kids to teach the others some key phrases for fun.

We have finished four weeks with Avid 4 Adventure and I am really enjoying it. I have great co-workers (especially the husband), which makes all the difference and the kids are kids, which is always fun and exhausting.
~:~
I have so much.
I am grateful.