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Weekend of the Daughter Visit

I said it before and I'll say it again, I Have more fun with my daughter even when we do, not much. I never left my room, and yet, we covered a lot of ground. She transferred photos into my photo frames (a project backburnered for a month), ordered my eyeglasses online (backburnered 3 months), and sent out a customized Facebook campaign notice for the upcoming ALS Walk for a Cure. All while we visited and enjoyed each others company. Anyway, I enjoyed her company while I got to hear her stories of her life with her boyfriend and my grand dog.

Apparently, my grand dog rides on their paddle boards and goes crazy barking whenever faced with sea lions and much to their horror, he jumps into the bay to attack. He's oblivious to his disadvantage with his diminutive size. They could gobble him down quick. Yeah,  I still have a grand dog, no grandchild, yet.

.Also, good news!  My sister, Dawn, the one I keep at arms length, has a second chance at family life. Her daughter that she gave up for adoption years ago, got in touch with her. Wow! I'm happy for her, but I will be happy from a distance. With me, she is just too free to be abusive. I doubt she'll show that side to an adult child. I saw a photo and she is beautiful. She's a little younger than my daughter. I was present at her birth and tried to persuade my sister to let me adopt her. My husband, Scott, reluctantly agreed but my sister refused. It broke my heart.

Years later, we spoke of it. My sister said she couldn't handle the thought of me raising her daughter. We laid that to rest but, truly, I always thought she'd rather trust a stranger with her flesh and blood than me. I never really understood. I'm grateful today to know that she made it happy and healthy to adulthood. I may never meet her but I'm happy I lived long enough to see this day and know she's here.

Daughters are a wonderful thing. Mine has been a joy. Not so much in those tween years when she judged me harshly as the sole reason our family split up. And we could only buy her clothes at The Limited and if I said I liked something, guaranteed she didn't.

Despite this, there's been no better constant in my life. She makes me feel old, laughing at my 80's garb and hair. She makes me feel young, through music. She horrifies me with "Jackass", "Honey Boo Boo", "Las Vegas Jail" and other trash tv selections. She makes me proud with... So much...Grade point averages, her career success, her lifestyle, her beauty, poise, intelligence, loyalty, her creativity, her choices, and the assurance that genetically, I will live on.

I sat here eating Maui Banana Bread, and Green Enchiladas that she made this weekend. But, I recall Buche d' Noelle, Teriyaki Steak, and one very special Christmas dinner. My daughter is an accomplished cook.She is also an accomplished knitter and a great pet mom.
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Location: 2720 East Madison Street, Seattle, WA 98112, USA

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