So Much ...

Life has been a whirlwind tale of ups and downs, no different than any other person's life. But I suppose that the greatest difference is that it is my life and, my life alone to live. All responsibilities in my life are on my shoulders. However, that does not exclude the acceptance of asking for and receiving help from others.

The last four months have gone by so fast. I remember as kid I used to dislike the thrall of slow days, supposing that I would never reach a certain age, do certain things. But how great was it to revel in placid, long days. Most of my days as a kid were just that way.

MaryAnn and I have put our house up for rent. We are currently residing with my mom, although these days I just call her mom as opposed of the possessive "my mom". Being married has done that to me. Even though I have siblings who are much older than me, I have always referred to my mother as "my mom". It interesting though, because these days I refer to her in third person as "mom". I do so purposefully as a means of including MaryAnn into to the family dynamics, I don't want her to ever feel like she is excluded. But then again, I don't think I could ever make her feel excluded from the Avendano family, her and mom have a very good relationship -- it is a true mother, daughter friendship.

About six months ago mom got really sick. She had an infection in her kidney that became septic. It was a huge deal since it caused her two have two seizures and other related issues. Mom only has one kidney, the other was removed about 15 years ago after being diagnosed with a malignant tumor. Doctors removed her kidney along with a six and a half pound tumor.

Since mom's health has been up and down, but progressively up, MaryAnn and I decided to move in with her. Our utmost intention is to remodel and add an addition to her house, increasing square footage to 1700. We want to do this soon, but due to the sub prime mortgage crisis, lenders are weary in doling out loans to people who don't have a financial vested interest in a property. In order to qualify for a loan, we need to live in the residence for six months and then file a loan application.

Making mom's residence our new home has been exhausting. So much work has gone into down-sizing her belongings. Initially it was a battle to convince her of getting rid of many items. Part of the issue is that many of her belongings have a huge sentimental value, especially those items that remind her of my father or sister. The good news is we have made tremendous progress in this effort. We have not done it alone though. We've had the help of a family friend name Ines. She really is a blessing. Aside from mom's stuff was our own stuff to mull through. For the most part it is quite easy, I have no problem in saying "throw it away." And the good thing with that is MaryAnn tends to be in agreement.

Overall, all three of us are content in our situation. We happy and hopeful for the future. All we need to do now is relearn how to slow down, relax and recharge.