September 2007

We have moved, hence my silence with blogging. Somehow packing, unpacking, getting Blake re-adjusted, unpacking, cleaning, etc. can take up a lot of time. My brain shuts down when I’m doing these mechanical things. But now, it’s waking up.

We didn’t thoroughly move out of our apartment. That is, we left some stuff behind due to time constraints on that day and my inability to complete all the packing for the move. Some of the stuff is annoying to live without: toaster, coffeemaker, blow dryer (my hair never looked worse), and my precious, tacky, leopard-print fuzzy bathrobe. But, we have a little french press and I’m using the oven for the toaster for now. Politically incorrect I’m sure.

We also left the baby grand piano, and need to call a piano mover for that.

The remaining things are stuff in boxes that went unused for the entire time we lived in the apartment. And baby things. A crib, pack-and-play, exercise dish, walker, car seat, unopened carton of newborn pampers, and assorted pink baby girl items. We had a failed adoption a couple of years ago, and to say these things are gently used is an understatement. But, respecting the birthmother’s prerogative, we were not gently used in the process. We are kind of battered, and it’s been hard to move on from this.

As I posted earlier, we have decided over the past few months that we would like to adopt an older child. This renders the baby stuff useless to us, so I need to post it to Craig’s list and Freecycle and see what comes up. I just posted it, and in typing the names of the items, the tears are welling up inside of me. Emotion is not helpful when you need to work at your job and unpack your house.

Blake asked me last night “Did I ever have a baby sister? What was her name?” He remembers Lulu, he remembers letting her go, but he’s even moving on and burying the memory. He said “We don’t want another baby.”

I know that I’m 48. I know that a newborn is out of the question for us. But somehow, I’m leaving my clawmarks on that dream, as much as I need to move into this new life with faith that all will be okay. As I now type my offer into Craigslist, I pray for the strength to keep going.

I’m the youngest of 8 kids. The closest in age to me is my sister, Babs. Her real name is Barbara (named after my Mom who probably thought that was her last chance to name a daughter, until I came along three years later). Babs is a singularly unique person. Brilliant and wildly successful in her professional life, quirky and eccentric in her personality, and one of the non-stop funniest people I know.

Babs’s claim to fame every Labor Day is that she has watched the Jerry Lewis Telethon without letup since we were kids. It’s part camp, and part stubbornness, and completely Babs that she does this. Here’s the thread of her emails so you can understand the depth of Babs’s obsession:

I am watching the telethon and jerry and ed mcmahon

No tote board yet, but I am hoping…..

Thought you needed to know…..

Love,
Babs

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At least they have brought on the ventriloquist…..

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Ok…..last one…..the ventriloquist is using jerry lewis as the
puppet….amazingly irritating and overwhelmingly annoying….

Here is the link for the final total… http://www.mdausa.org/telethon/
Over $60 million….if you read further down, you will note that the
telethon started in 1966….I may be the only person I know that has
watch some or all of the telethon (1966 in Ann Lennon’s basement) for
the last 41 years…..an accomplishment for sure….so Peter mentioned
“look at us we’re walking”, and I had to correct him because that song
was from the cerebral palsy telethon, which I believe was hosted by
Dennis James? Yes?

Hope you are keeping cool! We have been over 100 and the power went out
yesterday (before the end of the telethon I might add) and will
hopefully be on today….

Happy Tuesday!
Love,
Babs

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From me:

BINGO!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxGFTyWVU9o

Babs, I will never forgive you.

-me

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I guess I have done my job!!!!!

I have not yet see the clip you link to because I am on the blackberry, but I am glad I got you to go back in toime for some aggravation…..

I am so overwhelmed that I have spent 41 years of my life looking to the tote board and I truly believe I have never donated….I guess I am in it for the entertainment and the dramatic “I am death, I am muscular dystrophy” soliloquy performances by jack palance or joan crawford (or was she just the pepsi donation mouth piece?) Or patty duke…….go ahead……think back and remember…..

Miss you all,
Love,
Babs

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Oh and I should have said that at first I thought the cerebral palsy host might have been dennis day….but as I thought about it, dennis james popped into my head…not too surprising that I got them confused……both being named dennis and both being bundles of talent and all….

Babs remains loyal to Jerry, and loyalty may be the hallmark of what makes Babs Babs. As kids, we used to kid around calling Babs the “Babs-o-Matic” because you could persuade her to do almost anything for you. As a general practice, we had a standing “rule” that whoever got up from the sofa when we were all watching TV was subject to fulfilling the “While-you’re-up…” request. Maggie and I used to slowly push Babs off the sofa, and then it would escalate to the point where we were both pushing her onto the floor while Babs stretched one finger to keep it on the cushion, therefore being not officially “up.” But, the finger could never hold.

In a split second, it would release, and we’d say in chorus (or Maggie by herself, being the oldest, and usually the one with the food request), “While You’re Up!…” That would dispatch Babs to the kitchen to make cinnamon toast or noodles alfredo (our favorite nighttime snacks, particularly when Babs was providing the labor). Babs never disputed the validity of “while you’re up,” a phenomenon we all still discuss to this day. Babs was loyal to the rule, which is probably why she always the one on the floor with a finger stretched out, desperate to cling to the possibility that she wouldn’t have to cook that night.

Babs has a son she’s raised on her own, and who’s now entering high school. She is singularly loyal and devoted to Stephen who is a special needs kid with a big, big heart like his Mom. Babs is as funny as she is smart as she is beautiful.

Now you know a little bit more about my sister, Babs!