Barbara didrichsen
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You Can Do This Hard Thing

9/20/2016

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Sometimes grace comes from a Facebook ad.

Through every stage of parenting, from the first stumbling steps of babyhood to the first floundering decisions of young adulthood, we tell them, "I've got your back. Yes, it's hard, but you can do this."

I've had the privilege of being that person for my son. Now, I get to watch as he learns to do the same for his own. 

I cracked wide open today when I clicked on the Facebook ad for this song. So many memories of being enfolded in my parents' love through my life batterings.

I've lost my two biggest champions. And that? That's my own hard thing.
Transformation always involves the falling away of things we have relied on, and we are left with a feeling that the world as we know it is coming to an end, because it is.
​
       - Mark Nepo
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Annie's Garden

9/12/2016

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Picture

It's not yet autumn, but cool mornings like today's remind me that it soon will be. 

As I finished my walk on this glorious morning, I had to pause to appreciate my newly landscaped yard. I had the plans drawn up over eight years ago, but landscaping is expensive, especially for someone living on a semi-retired budget. I don't know when -- or even if -- I would have done this work without the money my mother left me.  In a very real sense, this is Anne's garden. 

Picture
My mother loved my ongoing home renovations of the past 20 years. I think she appreciated that, like her, I'd found a way to turn the grief of divorce into something worthwhile. She was my biggest cheerleader as I transformed this house, room by room, into the home I envisioned. 

These butterfly bushes have grown a lot since  they were planted in June. Their long, fragrant trusses attract bees and butterflies all day long.

My mother adopted the butterfly as her totem years ago. I think of her every time I look out my window, especially when one comes adorned in her favorite color.


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    I was a writer searching for an organizing theme. Then my mother died.

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