Epiblogues: Hope Springs Eternal

my shiny penny with copper hair

I've been in awe reading your stories over the last couple days. Blown away by the goodness in people, in you. From Richard Branson offering flights for the sick to the a homeless man on Hollywood Blvd lending a hand.

All is full of love.

#45 Taking my time to look outside my living room window, I noticed for the first time the tiny, fresh buds on our Flowering Crab Apple tree. Proof that after months and months of a cruel, Midwest winter, hope springs eternal in the buds of tree. Humans should take note, for we're all like the seasons, too.

#158..A long while back, my aunt gave me a present, a "prayer box" in which you are supposed to write down your worries, wishes, prayers, etc. It was a cute gift, but honestly not something that I used often, and over the years it got put away into the "storage closet" (we all have one). When I stumbled upon it while packing, I opened the box to read the lone wish I had put in the box, a small scribble on a scrap of paper: "I hope I am doing the right thing." I was, and I did.

#103 Daffodils are $1.25 a bunch at Trader Joes

#212 I am so thankful this time around my husband will be home (and not deployed to Iraq) to be able to witness the birth of our baby.

#134 I have been feeling a tad lonely since I became a mom. I have lost touch with a number of my friends and it has sometimes been hard. This past weekend two of my girlfriends came over and we spent the night watching buffy and enjoying some wine. It was wonderful to get to hang out and be myself again and the best part was the next morning they stuck around and played with the baby... I don't feel so lonely anymore.

#111 A kid I read with every day at work finished a book by himself for the first time today. As a teacher's assistant, I've watched him struggle, fail, pick his little 8-year-old discouraged self up and go on. He was so proud he wrapped his arms around me and said "I did it! I did it! I am actually going to be a reader" You should have seen his face.

#222 Every day, just before sunset, a woman in her late 60s pushes her husband, in deteriorating health, in a wheelchair down the ramp into the AIDS memorial grove in Golden Gate park. She places a towel on her shoulder to catch any drool, lifts him to standing, holds him, and dances him around the circle.We should all be so lucky.

I usually ask Archer or Hal to choose a number randomly for prize winning but this time I chose myself. And I chose #80 because my Nana (the banana) is soon to celebrate her 80th birthday and along with my beautiful cousin, Erica (who donated the coat with her partner Christopher) her sister and my siblings, I've been working this week on a project for her.

So I counted to comment #80, read the story of a woman in her 31st week of pregnancy and how just that day her desperately-in-need-of-work husband got a call for a potential new job. And then I checked her blog and saw that her baby is due the same day Archer was (May 24th). And I thought, a sign! A sign! Isn't life so very full of signs?

...Fables and signs.

Congratulations to Casa De Kaloi on your impending new baby, new work opportunities and this beautiful coat which will look absolutely smashing on you.

And YOU.

Thank you for sharing your honest portraits, your optimistic stories, your hope with me and everyone else. Thank you for listening and participating in this blog, in my life, for being kind and respectful and wise and fearless and hopeful.

Shiny pennies to all.

GGC

And in other news, How to have sex while co-sleeping: a needlessly complicated tutorial.