Sunday Morning

I had the most amazing experience yesterday! My precious granddaughters were with me all day, and I agreed to bring them back to their grandfather's (my ex-husband's) at 7:00 p.m. We had a delightful day, we made almond toffee and peanut brittle, which is now all packaged up and ready to go to Iraq. We went to Target where I got them each a coloring book and myself the above puzzle (what the hell was I thinking when I bought a 1,000 piece puzzle???)

But the amazing part was when I took the girls back - I got to talk with my ex-husband for the first time since 1997. I was so happy to see him, I wanted to hug him. It was so nice to talk with him. And when I took the sleeping baby out of the car seat and handed her to him, it almost made me cry. Her Biological Grandmother to her Biological Grandfather, she was passed, with loving care. We are going to have a meeting some time soon to discuss the care of the girls and what on earth we are going to do about OUR daughter. For anyone who has been divorced, you know what a wonderful thing it is to use the word "our" instead of "my", "ours" instead of "mine", and "we" instead of "I".

When I got back home, I got a phone call from a high school friend. Coincidentally, he also was friends with my ex-husband, all of us being from the northwest suburbs of Chicago. The friend is coming to town next weekend and I am going to get to see him for dinner next Saturday. He is someone I have kept in touch with all these years. I found him after I got sober in order to make amends to him, and we have kept in touch ever since. We probably talk on the phone twice a year. I haven't seen him since 1989. I am so looking forward to seeing him, and he feels the same way.

It was such a warm feeling to connect with these two men from my past - all within an hour. There is something so comforting about being with people who were in your childhood home and knew your parents. Who knew you when you were a girl and really quite lovely. Who knew you before you were a mother or a grandmother. Who mention yesterday's Notre Dame game because they remember your brother who graduated from there and is NUTS about the Fightin' Irish. (If I keep writing this I am going to start crying, so I am going to stop now.)

"The readiness to take the full consequences of our past acts, and to take responsibility for the well-being of others at the same time, is the very spirit of Step Nine." -- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 87