family and changes.
My brother, Daniel, is engaged and graduating from Grinnell. My yiddle boy. Not so yiddle anymore. Wow...
My sister, Mary, was accepted by Yale for her graduate studies in art. She and my brother-in-law, Pat, are moving out to the east coast this summer. Pat also got a [hopefully] great job with a tenure track as a professor at a college in Maryland. I'm so proud of both of them - though I'm going to miss the hell out of them both. I have no idea when or if they'll ever move back so I'll have to get used to seeing them a lot less. Which is a bummer because they are both such an important part of my life.
I've been vegan for over a month now.. and I love it. It just feels like the thing I should be doing with my life right now. It fits. I feel more healthy than I ever have in my life. Cleansed. The only other path I would take would be to eat only organic/local foods. But veganism it is for now. Makes you think about everything you put in your mouth. Mindful eating.
Last night I had a long convo with my parents about their parents... I'm just amazed at the kind of people they are/were. The grandmothers were/are independent survivors. The grandfathers were/are gentle hearted men. Devoted people. Such hard workers. Puts me a bit to shame -- I should be much more of a hardworker than I am. My dad, too, works sooo hard at his job. So much more than he has ever been paid for. One night I was in Allie's room and I was thinking about her Irish heritage - and how it seems so instilled in her that it gives her a steady strength and quiet confidence. Because she knows and is proud of her roots. And I told her "I wish I knew my heritage." Well... my heritage may not all come from one country, bound together by a fight against injustice, but each one of my ancestors has their history and their story, and those are my roots. Their stories bind and interlock and their creation is me. We share the same blood. You can see it when you look at our personalities. My mom has always told me I would have gotten along so well with her mother. I wish I could have met my mother's parents. If I could meet anyone alive or dead in history, I would meet them.
I'm so glad my father's parents are still alive and that I've gotten to know them. They are such amazing people. My grandma is turning 100 this summer. Soon grandpa will be 102. Grandpa would follow her to the ends of the earth. My dad was telling me about what they were like when he was young. Such powerful personalities - the both of them. And oh did they travel. and Oh did they live.
So. Summer is here. I'm back in Cedar Falls. Wonderful, beautiful, Cedar Falls. I ran into Willa and Robb yesterday while handing in my app for Pablos and we went to Cup of Joes and I watercolored while they read Hemingway. Then took a quick dip in my love, Edward Estlin Cummings. I love the people here. I think Cedar Falls is going to save the world. Like I told Robb, it's a great place to call home.
I got to see Regina Spektor this weekend againnnn. <3 Such a goddess. I love trips with my friends. Hah... oh boy. The Chapel of the Highway ministries.... a shabby blue trailer at a truck stop. Bless 'em. I'm going to miss Stace so much. Even though I wasn't able to spend a lot of time with her the last few months [or anyone, really] she was always such a wonderful person to be around. Always.
The school year is done.. such a strange year.
My sister, Mary, was accepted by Yale for her graduate studies in art. She and my brother-in-law, Pat, are moving out to the east coast this summer. Pat also got a [hopefully] great job with a tenure track as a professor at a college in Maryland. I'm so proud of both of them - though I'm going to miss the hell out of them both. I have no idea when or if they'll ever move back so I'll have to get used to seeing them a lot less. Which is a bummer because they are both such an important part of my life.
I've been vegan for over a month now.. and I love it. It just feels like the thing I should be doing with my life right now. It fits. I feel more healthy than I ever have in my life. Cleansed. The only other path I would take would be to eat only organic/local foods. But veganism it is for now. Makes you think about everything you put in your mouth. Mindful eating.
Last night I had a long convo with my parents about their parents... I'm just amazed at the kind of people they are/were. The grandmothers were/are independent survivors. The grandfathers were/are gentle hearted men. Devoted people. Such hard workers. Puts me a bit to shame -- I should be much more of a hardworker than I am. My dad, too, works sooo hard at his job. So much more than he has ever been paid for. One night I was in Allie's room and I was thinking about her Irish heritage - and how it seems so instilled in her that it gives her a steady strength and quiet confidence. Because she knows and is proud of her roots. And I told her "I wish I knew my heritage." Well... my heritage may not all come from one country, bound together by a fight against injustice, but each one of my ancestors has their history and their story, and those are my roots. Their stories bind and interlock and their creation is me. We share the same blood. You can see it when you look at our personalities. My mom has always told me I would have gotten along so well with her mother. I wish I could have met my mother's parents. If I could meet anyone alive or dead in history, I would meet them.
I'm so glad my father's parents are still alive and that I've gotten to know them. They are such amazing people. My grandma is turning 100 this summer. Soon grandpa will be 102. Grandpa would follow her to the ends of the earth. My dad was telling me about what they were like when he was young. Such powerful personalities - the both of them. And oh did they travel. and Oh did they live.
So. Summer is here. I'm back in Cedar Falls. Wonderful, beautiful, Cedar Falls. I ran into Willa and Robb yesterday while handing in my app for Pablos and we went to Cup of Joes and I watercolored while they read Hemingway. Then took a quick dip in my love, Edward Estlin Cummings. I love the people here. I think Cedar Falls is going to save the world. Like I told Robb, it's a great place to call home.
I got to see Regina Spektor this weekend againnnn. <3 Such a goddess. I love trips with my friends. Hah... oh boy. The Chapel of the Highway ministries.... a shabby blue trailer at a truck stop. Bless 'em. I'm going to miss Stace so much. Even though I wasn't able to spend a lot of time with her the last few months [or anyone, really] she was always such a wonderful person to be around. Always.
The school year is done.. such a strange year.