Give and Take

What a difference a week makes. Seven days ago, I was driving home to mourn the loss of someone who was very special…early this morning I welcomed the arrival of someone else who is very special – Neala Kathleen Driscoll was born at 12:04 a.m. to proud parents Ginny and Matt. Ginny is one of my closest friends and I couldn’t be more proud of her new induction into the Motherhood. Way to procreate, Gin! You sure make purty babies.

All this creation and cessation of life has me reflecting. It’s going by fast, this business of living. I know I have years ahead of me, but I’m starting to consider with a bit more care exactly how I want to spend those years. Those of you who know me know I’m a big fan of making checklists; it’s one of my many hobbies. I think we should all make a checklist for life. But revisit it frequently—crossing items out, making changes and addendums, adding stars or hearts when necessary, crumpling the list up, throwing it in the trash can…and then pulling the list back out of the trash and flattening it with your palm...this is a good process. I like my checklists to be a little rumpled. A little messy.

Speaking of messes, I’ve begun the process of unpacking my apartment. I was doing an excellent job earlier this week, but my unpacking craze dropped off midweek and now I just have piles of random crap that I’m not sure where to store. I also have a ridiculous amount of boxes. Does anyone need boxes? If you need to move or possibly build a fort, please come get boxes from me. I think the place will eventually look good. Right now it’s a bit of a war zone, but I’m sure it’ll come along.

Part of my unwillingness to pack stems from the fact that Matt and I are avidly watching the John Adams miniseries on DVD. Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney are phenomenal as John and Abigail. I’ve read the Adams’ letters to each other and I think this series does a beautiful job of capturing their relationship in all of its ups and downs. Abigail was a powerful influence in John’s political career and a magnificently intelligent and articulate woman. She really did shape our nation in many ways. What if she had been a shrew who refused to allow her husband to go gallivanting off to Philadelphia for some silly Continental Congress? Things would be very different. I love history. I love women in history.

Peace and love