Chain of Events

Many events have transpired since I last blogged. To save myself the trouble of posting 6,000 separate blog entries, what follows is just one big ol' blog post, divided into lovely bite-size segments.

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When I was about 14, my parents adopted my cousin, Megan, therefore making her my sister, in the legal sense of the word. We were raised side by side, and she has always been my sister in the emotional sense. For those of you who crave details about the blood relation between us, or think there is something incestuous or extremely southern going on here, get your mind out of the gutter. She is the daughter of my mother's brother, who died in 1984.

Last Thursday Megan lost her boyfriend, Marc Carson. Marc was the son of one of my dad's best good friends (as Forrest Gump might say) from school, and Megan had met him and fell in love about a year ago. He was a vivid personality. I remember him when I was a child, but our families had lost touch over the years. I am glad that I got to know him again. He was truly one-of-a-kind, appreciated a good joke and had a roaring laugh that I'll miss and always remember. He said what was on his mind, and when he offended, he apologized sincerely. He was a good heart and a good soul. He was 35 years old.


Megan and Marc - Marc, may you rest in peace. You will
be missed by many.

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Saturday was my first real chance to spend some time with my cousin Jessie's new baby. I was on my way to the grocery store and passed my Mamaw's house. The second I saw Jessie's car in Mamaw's driveway, I knew the baby was there, so I turned around and high-tailed it back to the house to pick up Matt. :)

The baby is precious. His name is James, or Sweet Baby James as I like to call him :) He's a quite little guy, just two weeks old. He slept through most of our visit, which is fine by me, because I just want to cuddle him anyway. He did open his eyes once, and they are blue. He coos a lot. He's cute. Period. See.


Sweet Baby James all smooshed up with Matt


Sweet Baby James with his favorite second cousin


Precious.


Matt and Sweet Baby James enjoying some naptime

Saturday night was hectic, and not in a "WHOOO! It's Saturday!" kind of way, but I just don't feel like getting into that. I'm writing this down only for the sake of my own memory, so that I won't forget about it later, but it's a long drawn out story, and there is no need to bore you with it. Don't worry, it's nothing bad.

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Regretfully, we weren't able to have Easter dinner with Matt's Dad, Ann, and John. Matt has been having some trouble with carsickness (is that a word?) and he just didn't feel like he could make the ride all the way to their house. Since my parents are only 2 miles away, we did go have dinner there, and as usual mom totally overdid it. There were more deserts than there were people in attendance, but dad will solve any issues with leftovers ASAP. :)


Daddy and me :)


Mom and Aunt Tammie fussing over the ham. Tammie has
a knife, watch out!

Yesterday Matt's mom arrived for her visit from Florida. Matt was so happy to see her. He's been looking forward to this visit or a LONG time. Megan was also here for the night, and it was really good to have a house full of family, even though I wish that we were all together under better circumstances. It was a good time.


Matt's mom wasn't here for Christmas, so she got her
gifts last night. This was a top from Matt that didn't work
out quite as well as he planned. It was good for a laugh :)


Megan and Me

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Today is the only day this week that we have to go in for chemo. We did that this morning and it went off without a hitch.

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The weird and incredible disturbing part of today was that a couple got into a terrible, physical, fight today while driving beside our house, literally Chris Brown/Rihanna style (I am NOT making fun of domestic abuse here, it is NOT a laughing matter, but that's the best way I know to describe what happened.) By the time it was said and done, the woman had jumped out of the car and taken off running. The man tackled her on the pavement and continued to beat her. The police were called as soon as someone realized what was going on. He was still beating her when the police arrived. I don't know if the man was arrested or not. If he wasn't, then there are at least 6 cops in this county the definitely need to find another vocation. I did see the woman, once it was all over, and he had knocked all of her teeth out. She was sitting in a pile of wet muddy weeds, shaken, and looking surprised to be alive.

I did not see this, and I will not say who witnessed it for obvious reasons. But I will say, I am shaken. I know people always say this, but we don't live in a neighborhood where a domestic dispute is likely to erupt right in front of your home. I have been thinking about that woman all day and willing her the strength to get somewhere safe and get as far away from that man as possible.

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Last Thursday a life ended to soon. Saturday I held a new life in my arms. Sunday was spent immersed with family. Today I witnessed the evil of the world and the struggles of a stranger very close to my home. It's enough to open my eyes, and hopefully yours, to the fact that (though it sounds hokey) life is short and unpredictable, and should be spent with as many moments of peace and love as possible.


Immersed in love