from here to there

My ex-husband's daughter just had a baby girl. She sent pictures, so I made a couple of comments about who she looked like, then asked the new mommy how she's doing.

I got an answer right back, a good one. This stepdaughter was so bright, and had so many struggles; a child of divorce without any privileges; of deprivation and values I didn't approve of; of conflicts between me and that.

It is so hard to become part of a relationship that had ended before you knew it existed, but somehow, years later, I helped the girl and she's honored me ever since.

The new mommy answers, "It varies from time of day. Tired, overjoyed, frustrated, satisfied. Its a roller coaster. Just when I feel I'm starting to get the hang of something the game changes. It is very exhausting to try to always be two steps ahead.

I must say that the my mom and you made it look easy. I would have never guessed that neither one of you were given a manual at the start."

I broke into tears... 24 years just flowed, a river, a deluge, a perfect storm. I answered her immediately.

Oh, please, honey, I fell in love with you when you were four years old and got a beesting.

You'll always be in my heart - that's where the manual is hidden.

When you would be totally frustrated (long before your sisters were born) and would twirl to the ground in your cutest of dresses, well, what could we do but laugh... and forgive.

Yup... there's a lot of good stuff in getting older, but you have to start with that silly baby.

I will always be grateful to your dad for knowing how to wrap a baby snug in that tiny blanket so she doesn't cry.

I'm pretty sure he did that for you, and that is all you have to do for Ellie.

Hold her tight and EVERY DAY tell her she is loved, she is smart, she is strong, and she is beautiful.

Then she will ask you questions.

Then you listen.

Then you reflect to her what you know.

Then the love comes back to you in droves.

And that is what family is... being aware.

I love you to the moon and back, Alice. (look it up)

Yup. I done good. Three perfect daughters, with good lives ahead of them, and now, the next generation come, with bells on..

Who Cares Anymore About Sarah Palin?

As anyone in range of the so-called Lame Stream Media knows by now, Joe McGinniss' long awaited reprise of the salacious story of Sarah Palin, half-term Governor of Alaska, Dominionist Christian, and social-network political playa-cum-pitbull, was published today as The Rogue.

So far I like the book - although we've heard most of the stories before, there seems to be a little more in-depth and a little more in-context with the character of "The Valley," where Mrs. Palin's hometown of Wasilla, the world's longest strip mall, is located, and, of course, now we have Joe's word that each item has been verified by several sources.

Comparing The Rogue Sarah with Herman the Rogue Yak was pretty funny.

I'm waiting to get to the part where he shows what he said was the coup de grace, what really made Sarah quit - I'm betting it was something more deeply unethical than what has been described before - but who knows; Teflon Sarah seems to get away with a lot.

Amazing, also, too, how Republican activist Andrea McLeod got most of the credit for the more than 20 charges of ethical breaches, as well as the brunt of vilification, when it was another Palin long-time friend and neighbor Zane Henning who had filed three of the ethics charges that stuck good.

Many people, according to Joe, stopped by the house he conveniently rented next to Sarah Palin's home, to offer him a variety of arsenal, of powerful guns to defend himself from the rabid, foaming, slathering sycophants Sarah was inciting to hate the author with her angry lies and distortions.

It makes it seem like everyone in Alaska has a houseful of guns, which is patently not true.

Jay Cross was one who offered help but I didn't like how he made Jay sound like a hick - I've known the Crosses many years and I don't think he sounds like that; characterizing Jay as having a good sense of propriety and a heart of gold is accurate, though.

I am also surprised at how many of these people I have crossed paths with through the years, underlining a fundamental truth about Alaska: it is a very small town.

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