Jojo goes through cycles of not being able to sleep. Mostly this is because her brain is simply over-active...she thinks up ideas of things to make, she re-hashes things that have happened in the playground, and sometimes she just lies there thinking about Eliza and feeling lonely. We have found the perfect antidote! Just go to Vonerable's house for dinner and a play with her four gorgeous kids. Jojo just loves going there. All four children are interesting and energetic and affectionate and jump all over her.
When we got home and Jojo was getting ready for bed she told me that Sparkly had said to her "we are family aren't we?', to which Jojo said she relied yes. Sparkly then said "then we must be cousins!". Jojo was immensely pleased with this. Like me, Jojo thoroughly believes that your family is not necessarily the blood clan you are born into......unlike the saying, you can choose your family. Jojo has gone to bed feeling loved, accepted, and trampolined off her feet. Tonight she fell asleep quickly.
I spoke to Bretsky on the phone tonight. He was exhausted from Granddad's funeral today. It was a long church service, followed by a long burial service, followed by much shaking of distant relatives' hands. He was also a pall bearer - an honor he was glad to accept, but that it reminded him only too clearly of being a pall bearer for his mother and our daughter also. We have both found that it is very difficult to keep grief for the loss of any particular person in any sort of segmented compartment. Grieving for one person spills into grieving for another spills into grieving for another, and before you know it you are just sad sad sad. When I spoke to him tonight, that was how he was feeling, and then Brisbane is just too far away.
I am about to go and climb into bed with this, having visited my favorite bookshop today. I actually bought it as a present for my older sister, but if I'm quick I can read it before I wrap it...that's allowed in the rules of present giving isn't it? I wouldn't want to give a boring book to my beloved sister would I? No, I think that it's best that I check it too. Night night.
Oh wow! I am happy teary....teary from some of your words but mostly happy that you are doing this. You are blessing the world, one reader at a time. We had a blast last night, too. And, btw, I think it is very responsible of you to scrutinise the gift book. I am happy to double-check it if you're not sure. You can't be too careful.
ReplyDeleteViva la Festival!