Yo Roxy

Whazzup wit da book? Do we have a selection yet?

Icksn-ay on the ruggod-ay

We missed Roxy (again!)... did she get pinched (again!)? :(

A beautiful night for the ook-bay lub-cay. We hung out in Guido's front yard for a long spell. He had a mighty-fine conflagration going in his yard-chimenea (sp?). His neighbors are quite entertaining. We didn't get a glimpse of Sexy Grandpa, but the freestyle-cyclist-man made an appearance (first person I've ever seen over the age of 30 ride a bike hands free with only one foot on the pedals) as well as another nicer-to-look-at-man cyclist. Judy drove by too, although I didn't see her wave (Bomb said she did). Guido drove us inside the house when the embers started to fade.

I can't even type what I believe is the most bizarre phrase I have ever heard and will never forget. I am going to tuck it away in my brain for safe keeping and use it at the perfect moment. Fo shizzle!

Back to the book. We had one of the best discussions thus far IMO. Talk went from grief to marriage to careers to healing. Thanks to Shoozie (f.k.a BetteH) I am much more empathetic to Joan's writing throughout the book. Joan and John had a long (and rare type of) marriage, and when someone suddenly drops cold, it's mind-numbing. I've never lost a spouse or a child, I can't say what my grief would be like and I don't want to know.

By rare type of marriage: how many do you know who can live and work together 24/7? I don't remember what she exactly said in the book, but there were only a couple of times she noted when they were away from each other. Shoozie appreciated the stories and the memories in the book and I agree that I enjoyed reading about their times together and enjoyed reading about the things he wrote and would like to read some of his work.

RE: Grief. It was funny to note how others respond to anothers grief and what people say: ..."He's in a better place."....."He's in God hands now."...."It was his time.".... Does that offer any comfort? I don't think in Joan's case it did. She wasn't comforted, not that she could be either. I think others undermined her grief and I forget who said it in the book but I remember someone called Joan a "cool customer" in the face of a couple of hours after John had died. Actually, the more I think about it the more I feel like we need to leave people with their grief because it is such an essential process of healing. Don't take away people's grief.