Without opening yet another vein for exploration, let's just say the last couple weeks have involved a major health scare. The end result, while not spectacular, is not an actual end result. And that's pretty damn good.
When it first came down, a wise pal of mine reminded me that I am historically almost indestructible. When I first read his email, I thought he was in denial. Today, I consider him a genius.
Providing today's result, it was actually kind of nice to be robbed of self-delusion. At least for a little while.
I was sick most of the weekend, but it feels better to feel bad at the cottage than any place else on my earth. (It's obviously also very nice to feel good there).
Although I hadn't lived there since I was 10 years old (and remember little of the first five) -- that musty, sturdy square across the dirt road from the creek is my homefree.
Under other circumstances, being awakened from a nap to the sound of sledgehammers and crowbars, might have made me more than a bit cranky. I am not, by nature, a sunshiny person.
The front of the porch was being torn off to make repairs and expand it as we'd planned... but I was nervous about the cost and Charlie's lack of construction experience. Pile that on with feeling lousy and the my initial reaction to the noise and destruction was hormonal banshee.
But I looked out the door and saw a beehive of relatives and borrowed tools dispatched with amazing efficency. Men, women, and children purposefully intent on their various tasks. All kinds of instructions and ideas floating over and around the sounds of the tools.
No one was asked to help, they simply did.
These are the families of my "older" cousins -- the ones I was too young to play with when I was a kid and whose ensuing lives I largely missed in the quarter century I was gone.
Working alongside Charlie were my cousins' spouses, their children and even their grandchildren. A year ago, through my distance rather than theirs, none of them could have likely given you my husband's first name without checking their Christmas card list.
Yet, here they were making an impromptu donation of a hunk of their holiday weekend for family.
I felt my grandmother's arms around me as if she was watching the scene from my shoulder -- even though she's been gone for more than 20 years.
This was how she and Grandpa expressed themselves-- in what they did for family.
My grandfather built the cottage for my parents when my mother was a teen bride. Nearly 50 years later, his family is taking care of it.
Charlie and I had kept our cards close. This cousin crew didn't know that I was sick and scared, just sleepy and quiet. They likely assumed a hangover.
After weeks of looking over and over my various insurance policies, I saw from the nearly demolished porch the real wealth available to my daughters.
They are both smarter than I am, so I hope it won't take them as long to see it too.
I'm really looking forward to picking up a hammer next weekend.



Copyright 2006 Judi Griggs