Saturday, November 27, 2010

Of Life, Death and Tattoos

Firstly, let me say that I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, full of family, food and fun. (And if you didn't, there's always next year!) :)

I had a really good holiday, with lots of diversity and new experiences. Instead of staying home and doing the cooking, I went to Atlanta to spend the holiday with extended family, and spent four days enjoying the break from my own routine.

I walked in some quiet woods, all by myself, just me, the falling leaves, and the faint strains of my brother-in-law playing his grand piano in the distance. I got soundly beaten at several games of pool, and kicked pinball machine butt (465, 500 points on a vintage machine!). I helped my sister (the florist) make and deliver last-minute flower arrangements for people who'd forgotten to send flowers to their family over the holiday (you know who you are!), and helped deliver arrangements to a grieving family at a funeral home. I enjoyed a chicken pesto panini in Little Five Points with my son, who in a case of "real-life-being-stranger-than-fiction", recently moved to the same neighborhood I chose to use as setting for the Nicki Styx books. (Needless to say, he loves it, and has become an L5 regular.)

I visited the tattoo parlor where my nephew (on the right) works, and made a new friend when he invited the guy who does the piercing to join us for dinner.  I visited with my one remaining uncle (still sharp at 83), got to know my pre-teen niece and nephew, and missed my mom the entire time. I laughed with my sisters over our lack of napkin-folding skills (among other things), and marveled at how my life has changed through the years: many of those I still love are gone, but there are new loved ones coming into my life all the time.

Diversity, my friends, is what life makes life interesting. :) I hope mine never stops being diverse.

5 comments:

Brooklyn Ann said...

Sounds like you had a lot of fun! I miss my mom too. The holidays just aren't the same without her.

Sharon S. said...

there is no way you can have a child old enough to live on his own! My goodness, were you 5 when you had him? Does it hurt to get your head tattooed?

Terri Garey said...

Hi, Brook! Sorry to hear about your mom. Yes, the holidays just aren't the same, but I mainly missed her just because she would've enjoyed this particular one SO much.

Thanks for stopping by!

Terri Garey said...

I was indeed a child bride, Sharon, married at 17. :) The good news is that I got the child-rearing part of my life over at an early age. (And I can't honestly claim to miss those carpools or PTA meetings!)

Terri Garey said...

Oh, and yes, I'm told it hurts quite a bit to get your head tattooed. The devil in me, who remembers a cute little boy instead of a grown guy who shaved his head and tattooed a skull on it, said, "Good! I hope it did!" :)