SurvivingSara

Tag: family

  • Parent is Also a Verb

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    Sara Z
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    My 14-year-old son was in for a difficult conversation. I brought him into my room, shut the door, and we sat on the bed. Me: Unfortunately, I’m going to have to share with you something I was hoping I’d never have to say. Son: My younger brother (name withheld) really is retarded? M: No. He’s…

  • With Everything, Turn, Turn, Turn

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    Sara Z
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    I sense change coming. From this side of nearly six decades, a most profound lesson I’ve internalized is that we will always face new challenges. Sometimes the current season feels like trouble that’s here to stay. When you have a two or three-year-old throwing a fit as they work out exactly what they can control…

  • Party Time

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    Sara Z
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    My husband did a great job at work in 2021, reaching heightened goals, and he is being recognized at a party Friday night, two days from now. The company provides everyone who makes “The President’s Club” a room at a very nice resort not far from where we live. Check-in will be followed by appetizers…

  • Parent is Also a Verb 4/23/22

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    Sara Z
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    In the beginning, if you have any sense, you’re nervous about bringing that tiny, completely dependent, bundle of snuggles home. Now, you’re a parent. Some folks continue living life as they did before and add this new member as an aside. Others adopt the new role of mom or dad studiously, committed to doing everything…

  • Diddy Fin Frips

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    Sara Z
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    My dad has been gone three years today. As a provider, he built a wonderful life for our family. He wasn’t perfect as a father but who is? He had outpatient surgery, coded, and never came home. He was 83. He grew up in a Pacific Northwest farming community with his parents and two brothers.…

  • I’m Enough and Nothing At All

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    Sara Z
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    My whole life I wanted to be enough, for someone to behold me, smile, and say, “You are just the person I’ve been looking for!” Smart enough, funny enough, good enough… Take it all away. Cognitive abilities have declined. Isolation is the rule. Even speaking is often interrupted by tears. Family and close friends still…

  • Sara’s Still Rambling

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    Sara Z
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    At our favorite diner & dive bar on a gray, quiet Sunday, my husband and I were brunching, he on his chicken fried chicken pile and I had a Hot Mess with a Dirty Mary. It wasn’t football season and the TVs displayed a trivia game, entertaining pictures, and an infomercial. We were seated below…

  • Parent is Also a Verb (PAV) 3/17/22

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    Sara Z
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    Meaning of the word discipline: In OED and Watkins it is said to be from discere “to learn,” from a reduplicated form of the PIE root *dek- “to take, accept.” But according to Barnhart and Klein, it is from a lost compound *discipere “to grasp intellectually, analyze thoroughly,” from dis- “apart” (see dis-) + capere “to take, take hold of,” from PIE root *kap- “to grasp.” One phrase…

  • Short Shrift

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    Sara Z
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    Tried to write an update on my fracture, three-and-a-half weeks out. Actually, I did write and post an update earlier today, nearly an hour ago. I spent a good bit of time writing and selecting pictures. First issue was when I went on as a reader and was appalled that the yuckier pictures were right…

  • 30 Years

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    Sara Z
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    Traditional Wedding Vows Example: 1 “I, (Name), take you (Bride/Groom), to be my (Husband/ Wife), to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.” Well, my husband and…

  • Times Such as These

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    Sara Z
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    This is gonna be a short one. Wasn’t going to write at all today but gotta capture the thought while it’s still within my grasp, mentally and physically. which is a concern. For example, yesterday I had two pair or reading glasses but now I have none. Surviving Sara is sometimes about choices I make…

  • Blackbird Sings

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    Sara Z
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    A time to mourn in a time of much grief, my stepfather-in-law died this morning. He was a tough old bird, made it to 92 despite of myriad health challenges, and his grip remained strong. He was 60 when I met him in his backyard, fastidiously cared for by my in-laws. He’d worked his way…

  • Parent is Also a Verb 1/21/22

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    Sara Z
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    When my husband and I brought our second son home, our first son was 19 months old. He seemed to barely notice the addition. As a stay-home mom, the first couple of years were full of parallel activities: feeding them both included breastmilk for one and fingerfood for the other, different size diapers needing changed,…

  • Parent is Also a Verb 1/14/22

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    Sara Z
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    Are you expecting your offspring to grab the keys and take off when they turn 16 or will you require they practice, take classes, and be tested so as to qualify for a license? We don’t just let our teenagers drive away because they’ve turned 16, although they may attempt to convince us that would…

  • The Nitty Gritty

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    Sara Z
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    Tiny news items: Twenty years I’ve called this house my home. Today, I was puzzled by the mechanism of the front window vertical blinds. It took several minutes to achieve the desired effect. A longer pause than usual spent catching the word that’s just there, on the tip of my tongue, can be explained away,…

  • On Brokenness

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    Sara Z
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    Weak, breathing slow and shallow. Certain no one will see me, surprised each time someone reads me here. No longer a good daughter, sister, friend. Letting it all go. It doesn’t matter who I was or what I did. Shedding every bit of that. What’s left? Acceptance. Gotta work on that. When the prettiness turns…

  • Parent is Also a Verb 12/5/21

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    Sara Z
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    Let your love shine through, no matter what the circumstances! When you bring a little snuggle bunny home, it’s not hard to love unconditionally. It has to be unconditional because your baby has nothing to offer except spit up and terribly malodorous diapers. Luckily, loving them up does not require a good mood at 3…

  • Speaking My Peace

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    Sara Z
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    Can you guess which front porch sign I chose and which one my husband installed later? The first time a solicitor presented afterwards, he was surprised and a bit offended. Following a second salesman wanting to give an estimate for some service or other, my husband was really irritated. He’d planned to ask for a…

  • Color Me Free

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    Sara Z
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    With 70’s hits playing the soundtrack of my life ages five to 15 and candles lit, I closed my eyes to relax, breathe, and meditate without calling it meditation. It took some time to settle and convince my dog this wasn’t a new game. I allowed memories to trip along and float by as music…

  • Parent is Also a Verb 11/28/21

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    Sara Z
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    We don’t expect our babies to magically pop up on their feet and launch into breakdancing when they’re still taking wobbly steps, furniture surfing because they’re unsure. As they grow, we shouldn’t expect them to do chores or activities correctly if they’re not developmentally ready or we haven’t shown them how we want it done.…