Catching up

The invigorating beginnings of autumn are in the air and I've finally had time to do a little maintenance and updating of my woefully neglected blogs. I’ve added a few entries to The Bi Curmudgeon, helped Joan sort and put back together some rooms that grandson Jay cleared in order for him to paint and in order to make space for new carpeting, and then spent much of today watching TV coverage of the 10th anniversary commemorations of 9/11, which gave Joan and me a chance to discuss how the events of that tragic day changed us (or didn’t). For me, it reaffirmed and reinforced my belief in the need for people to proactively pursue understanding of different cultures and mindsets. In three and a half more months, it will likewise be the 10th anniversary of our son-in-law Bryan’s death; last month it was the 18th anniversary of my husband Thanh’s death. Like 9/11, these are tragic events, but again they reaffirm the need to fathom why these things happened—and why things like these events continue to happen—but they also provide an opportunity to remember the good times and good things. Among those good things are the creation of grandchildren and nieces and nephews. And to our surprise, today is Grandparents Day (according to our calendar), so while today has been a day of mixed emotions, at the end of the day (literally), it has been a positive one.