The Women In My Family

These are the immediate women in my life. A few missing, yes, but here are four, important. From left to right:

My Mother. A retired daycare mother, an angel walking the earth, and I believe, an aura about her that only babies can see. They reach for her, take her hand, lay their heads in her lap. And she'd die for any one of them.

My sister, Teri. 2 years younger, and fiercely protective of me our entire lives. 23 years married to my brother in law, Big-Tim-Stud, and mother of 2, Brandi, and Dane. And let us not overlook: Cancer Survivor, baby. She spent her birthday handing out flowers to chemo patients. It was her gift to herself.

Next is my Grandmother. 87 years old, forced to retire just 3 years ago after complications from surgery. She's physically moving a little slower these days, but she can still kick your ass. Seriously. Do NOT argue that you're paying for lunch. Just go get her wallet like she told you, and no one will get hurt.

And on the right, my niece Brandi. An Up-and-Coming Strong Woman in Our Lives. I could write an entire blog about her alone. Health complications caused her, a few years ago, to drop out of high school. She went straight to the community college to get her GED, and currently has a Straight-A, 4.0 GPA in Forensic Science. The Girl is going places, baby, and I hope I'm jealous as hell.

And my Grandmother was here, today, to check on my mother, who, as you may know, is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's.

We'd told her: She's ok. We'd told her: We take care of her. We'd told her: We'd die before we didn't.

And still. She called on my Uncle, and said "Take Me There."

She had to see for herself.

And that's all right.

Because the women in my family.

We aren't going away, just because you told them to.

We will rest, when we know, that YOU are okay.

And not a moment before.

And before I go, here's one more, I snapped, of my mother and my grandmother. They stood, in this position, listening to surrounding conversation. My brother-in-law teased me about the camera flashing constantly, and I countered, "I just can't help it, all this hand holding, they're so cute!!!!"

And my mother matter-of-factly replied, "I'm warming her hands. They're freezing."


Another benefit, from the women in my life:

You're not going anywhere with cold hands, if we can help it.