8 Comments

Whoa, these recollections hit hard. In particular, the emotions analogy and the parental hug. How dare you make me tear-up on a Wednesday morning? Perhaps the ‘hug’ hit harder because at the moment I am in a shock-absorber-less car, feeling a little like the spindly-legged dog is driving, experiencing the scraping viscerally (metaphor mixology, sorry). Both my sons are adults, have been for quite some time. They now have children of their own and yet I still hug them as my child. Always will, even when they don’t respond in the way they used to. I think it’s the snuggling I miss. Maybe there was a last time for that and I missed it. Just to say – I am totally in awe of the power of the words in these Warm Recollections. Their impact outweighs their number. Thank you.

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Thank you Kim... yes, emotions can be hard and sharp-edged beasts. And when I came upon that note about hugging a child I almost laughed at that long-ago version of myself who didn't get what it'd be like when I actually had a child. I do miss the snuggles, but I'm really grateful that it still feels like a child I'm hugging, even though he's a good two inches taller than me now!

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My oldest is 51, my youngest is 41. I will never stop hugging them as my children. I had no idea having babies that I was on the hook for more than the obligatory 18 years I had been told by my mother. I know I will be their mom, and all that that means, long past my time here on earth.

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So very, very true. You don't have to be alive to still be someone's mom.

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I love these bits. You have the combination of great perspective matched with great writing and phrasing abilities. I noticed this with the first novel of yours that I read, straw men. Every few pages, there would be a paragraph so delicious that I would stop and reread it, savoring it. Not many authors can do this to me. Thanks!

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That's so kind... thank you!

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I parent to the crowd ALL THE TIME. The number of random strangers, supermarket cashiers, librarians and teachers I have tried to make laugh by proxy could fill an Olympic swimming pool. But then no one except me would want to swim in it.

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Weirdly relieved to hear it's not just me ;-)

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