Ordinary Life

Yesterday would have been 22 years of a marriage that, like most, had good days and bad. In the years as the children got older, we began to refer to the date as our family's birthday and would often take a trip to celebrate the anniversary together. This picture is from one such trip, ten years ago this week. As I have embarked on this decade challenge prompt, I have been accused of not being over the marriage, nor the man that I was married to. I've been told to take my memories down and stop writing about anything where he was involved. But to do that, I would have to erase my life til now and cease to exist myself. And so- February's entry is simply a reminder that this was the time of year we decided to involve ourselves with one another, inseparably for the rest of our breathing lives. There was actually terminology to the same effect: 'two becoming one til death do us part'. And we stayed in that knot for the next two decades. Memories from our fracture point...

UNBECOMING Hindsight 2020: injustice in HD excavation, sans-anesthesia, inhumanity Not pre-owned appendages that were never mine but treasure formed deep, in caverns my own  Stones once kept safe drown me now to stay afloat Matrimony monologue Monotony Move Rewrite our stories  Recast the leads Say what you'd like Rewrite History, too. The South will rise again you say, Judge Judy walked the moon?  Untangle DNA Remove as much of me Twinkle, twinkle  how you shine  impressive star in this hometown sky  Wish you may, wish you  might Wish on a falling star tonight:  Let Truth crash in Flaming meteorite Touch your lips unbecome those lies. The LoveBird Inn and Dolphin Bay Restaurant In January 2010, my BigKids were little, so full of hope and love. Perhaps a touch of whimsy, too.  ~*~ McIntosh Bookstore   Bay Street, Beaufort  January 2010 " Books, you are my home. " 

PROLOGUE In an effort to keep the story rolling and as a writer's prompt, I am going to try and reflect on the past decade from 2010 forward on a month-by-month entry.  The biggest event in our family in 2010 was the birth of Riley Wren. At first we couldn't imagine what life was going to be like, adding a brand new baby girl. Now, I know that we cannot imagine a day without her .  It is one of my favorite sayings, that we should write our plans in pencil.  I find the edits are absolutely worth the inconvenience of erasing. JANUARY 2010

EPILOGUE It is fair to say that the last year was the most eventful and challenging off-road adventure in the story that is my life's past decade. A divorce is no small matter, not even when seas are calm and everything is civil. I've gotten the same question a lot throughout the process: If things were so bad, why did you stay? And I usually give the same short and sweet answer: Things weren't always so bad. When I had removed from our home for safety reasons, and it became clear that I was to be served with divorce rather than have the safety issue addressed, my son asked me: But what about all those trips we took, (what about all those pictures)? I told him then, as I reaffirm now: They still belong to us. They always will. They really happened and we really were there together. We can cherish the good in those moments, and we should. And this is very important (at least to me): The decision to keep them in tact should have never fallen on a fault line between safety and...

One of the things about raising a house-full of youngins when you're young and broke is that it encourages creativity. We made our own 'photo studio' when we.. I mean whenever I... wanted updated photos.  They, for the most part, were pretty good sports about it... and you can see for yourselves just how photogenic they are. ;)  ...for the most part. ;)  One of my favorite traditions at Christmastime was to take the Downtown Tour and end at the Gingerbread Exhibit across the river at The Westin. There was usually ice skating at the civic center, trolley rides, the candy kitchen and riding the ferry over. This particular Christmas Eve, we made it a family affair and had dinner in the hotel's restaurant overlooking the river. An All Gingerbread Savannah ~ scrumptious ~ This was also the year that we were just going to focus on our little family- new traditions, no travel (except for Christmas Eve to Savannah) We would make a party of the occasion, go bowling and enjoy eac...