Daughters-in-law

Some weeks are solitary and some are not.  This past week was full of family efforts.  Daughter-in-law Jessica asked me to help her with kid activities on Thursday.  Daughter-in-law Dorothy asked me to help her with babies and house work several days this past week, as she continues her recovery from a hysterectomy.  While it took most of my open time, I like the combination of working and family.  I'm a working kind of girl; there is just something about it that I find fulfilling.  Perhaps it is because it is measurable.  Dorothy and I bought and assembled a shelf for her living room.  There it stands, a moment to our combined effort.  Measurable.  Observable.

Visiting and bonding on the other hand lives inside me, not easily measurable or observable.  Not that I don't like that as well.  But it is harder to measure the place it takes in the unrolling of time.  Dorothy and I have had some wonderful conversations accompanying our errands and work.  Understanding her enlarges my affection for her.  Jessica and I have also had sweet conversations.  There is something to be said for girl bonding.  I've mentioned it already, but I really enjoy spending time with the women in my life.  My daughters-in-law have become my girls, in heart and mind.

One of my dreams is to bring all of our grandchildren together for a week each summer.  We've managed to do that for a couple of summers now.  But there is always some of the kids missing.  This summer is speedily approaching and my plans for the yearly "cousin camp" are quickly needing major readjustments.  As I discussed it all with Layne, I lost my patience.  He sometimes sees things so differently than I do as to cause me major frustration.  The personality flaw I'm most interested in ridding myself of is impatience and anger.  So losing it on Layne put me in a bit of a depression--about myself and my inability to fix this part of me.  How does one change, really?

 We will work the cousin reunion out, I'm sure.  But I wish I could be gentler and more patient about it.  

My Thursday errand for Jessica included attending
the school kids' open house.  Here's Ben with Jacqueline.

Ben with Alexis.  I enjoyed the school Open House
quite well.

Here is Beecher Leversee, the young man who
has been living in a motorhome on our property
for months now.  He is leaving for good and
this is his goodbye picture.