Four Weddings, a funeral, and a summer....

May seems so long ago. I suppose that is the mark of a good summer, that it was long and full. It started with graduation, happy parents, good food, and delirious seniors. Yes, I got pranked.

Then summer took a bit of a turn as we said goodbye to my aunt Martha. When our loved ones pass on, we can't figure out how to be. How does the day start again without her? I think I needed the whole summer to figure that out and I'm still kinda struggling, but the days have continued, and the sun has risen many times since. This summer was a good time to be around my family and remember her.

I traveled to the Oregon coast and the high desert of New Mexico. I went boating with my family and took care of my friends' dogs.




And there were books, boats, babes, beads and birdies (okay, not a birdie, but definitely par).





And there were the weddings. I called myself "the wedding bitch". If you have a wedding detail needs doin', I will get her done. Yes, it was very "27 Dresses" of me. I fetched things, I set up chairs and centerpieces. I carted sushi and wax stamped about a billion placecards. Shoot, at one wedding, all I had to do was show up, that was really fun. I loved being able to participate in all the details and processes of each special day, and the actual weddings were really really beautiful. Joy, peace, beauty and love were the winners in every single wedding I attended, but FYI, payback is coming, ya'll.




But the best part of summer was the big sky. Everywhere I went, the sky seemed to change and transform itself. I felt it's vastness and it's warmth, and it challenged me to stop and be. Yeah, I always have a summer "to-do" list, and for the most part, it got done, but that's beside the point. It was my summer to recharge, to meditate, and to remember. This is a moment, it will pass as soon as it will come, and sometimes that is a relief, and sometimes that is a heartbreak, but the important thing is to be IN it.