A family in flux.  In the last year my family has been in flux.  Through this time family history has been a recurring thread.  On my Mothers side there is a tapestry being created.  On my Dads side that same tapestry is unraveling.  With my daughter, the tapestry is weaving a new story.  I have felt for a long time, that my place in all these dissimilar tapestries is to help where I can.  

My Mother has a life ending disease.  She is feeling her mortality in a way the is sometimes funny and sometimes sad.  She is fighting time.  As time is encroaching upon her.  She has not done all she wants.  But then I wonder if any of us will have done all we want.  I am helping her make books with her time.  Books about her childhood.  Books about her relationship with my Dad.  And now the Granddaddy of all books....But we haven't started it yet.  

My Dad has diseases that are robbing him of his memory.  I am making books to help him remember his family.  His accomplishments.  And the faces of his loved ones.  

My daughter is getting books on how much she has to look forward to , to work for and to make a new life for.  She was on the Presidents list for getting a 4.0 grade average while being sick, taking care of three kids and picking up the pieces of her life.  It has been a hard year for us all.

But I truly believe that the stories of our past helps with the stories being woven now.  My Grandpa always said, "It is a good life if you don't weaken."  My Grandma on the other hand threw salt over her shoulder for good luck.  There has been a lot of laughing over Grandpa's assessment, and a lot of salt throwing to help our luck along.  

It has been a family year.  or two.  Now I have to work on my own life.  As it has become so interwoven with the others.  I am learning from all these life stories.  I will be able to go on with my life enriched by the threads of my family that are a part of my own life tapestry.