A Meme for a Change

I haven't done a meme in quite some time... but my new friend DAG tagged me and so I thought I'd comply.

The rules are simple:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on the blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Please note that it says "random" not "interesting"

Here we go:

1. I have 22 nieces and nephews. All but 1 of those comes from my own brothers and sisters. I am the youngest of 7 kids. Rob is one of 2. The kids range in age from 4- 25 and I joined Facebook so that I had an easy way to connect with them. They are convinced this makes me a weird stalker Aunt. Truth is, it freaks me out a little to be privy to the information they share.

2. My greatest heartbreak hit when my dad died in 1997. This loss was devastating and it took awhile before I could function normally. The heartbreak renewed when I had children- the loss was magnified and the pain reborn. I miss him madly.

3. And old beau wrote and recorded 2 songs for/about me. As he puts it, one worked and one didn't. It's strange to know those words are still afloat in the universe. We're Facebook friends now and I recently received disk after disk of his complete works. It's fascinating to hear the progression of his music over the past (gulp) 22ish years.

4. I am passionate about the idea that women need women. As I'm writing this it becomes pretty clear that this is tied to the fact that I have 4 sisters and while there is lots of love there, I don't connect with them in a way that I have always thought that I someday would/should. It's easy to gather with groups of women and have hours of laughter punctuated by moments of connectivity. It's easy, but important. It's more challenging to sustain relationships on a day to day week to week basis. Lives are busy and it's easy to not allow time to reach out to give and get support. When the path is open and clear it makes it easier to be a better mom, wife, daughter, sister, person. More challenging, but important. Women need women.

5. My kids are convinced that no chocolate is safe when I am near. They might be right.

6. Rob and I rarely celebrate our anniversary with gifts. We do, however, try to get away every so often to be together for a night or weekend. In 12 years of marriage I can't ever remember a time when we didn't have a great time. When we met we were in the same literary club in college. We both wrote poetry and stories. But not about each other. This year, on our anniversary he wrote me a poem. It tied together the past and future and I read it often. Often I'm amazed by the passing and growth in these 16 years of friendship.

There you have it- and I'm tagging ITFL, Catnip (when sh'e back), Velma, Dawn, Mrs. Chicken, and YOU! If you don't have a blog and want to play just leave a long comment...