My emotional cell membrane is vapor-thin these days. Everything makes me cry. Mainly the pain in the world, and there is a whole lot of that.
It feels like every interaction is a reminder of how difficult life is. Positive interactions make me cry because I can’t take kindness for granted anymore. Negative interactions make me cry, often because it’s frustrating when seemingly simple things are complicated because of rigid thinking or bureaucracy or both.
I give the following books the highest praise my home can offer – both my kids and I loved each story.
When I sat down with my laptop after the costuming event I went to in order to edit pictures, I turned to the Chaplain and remarked that I could tell from my face that I’d waited till after the event for photos. I showed him what I meant in a couple of pics – In too many of them, fake smiles, a desperate glint in my eye, and blank looks stared back at me.
Finally, the last day of the retreat, Sunday. Since the majority of the programming is on Saturday, Sunday has a more relaxed schedule, so I went with a “casual” costume, which if you don’t costume probably seems silly when you see the photos.
One of the things I wanted to do this year at the retreat was a costumed swim. My friend L from Staten Island and I invited the rest of the group to make historic bathing costumes of any time period. We even had a slot in the schedule to meet at the dock for our swim.