A Little Bit Of This And That

I hope everyone had a nice Easter weekend. I was in Virginia Beach with my youngest daughter and Gabe. I spent one day at school with him and was introduced to his friends and teachers by him. Of course my name is Amma. It was cute to have his friends calling me Gabe's Amma.

The week went by much too quickly. My daughter was baptized on Saturday night and Gabe will be baptized this summer. He was so proud watching her. When he gets excited about something he gets this twitch in his cheek and looks like he's going to cry. Afterwards, he ran over to her and hugged her then said, "Mommy, I'm proud of you." After we sat back down, he looks at me and says, "Now Mommy's a good Catholic like me."

I managed to finish a short story while I was there and had intended to tweak it today, but things didn't work out the way I had planned. My oldest daughter called me with some devastating news; her former boyfriend, who had remained her best friend even after their breakup, was found dead this morning. He was only twenty-six and a talented musician. It seemed like all of his dreams were finally coming true when this happened. A couple of weeks ago his band had released their first CD. Ben's sudden and unexpected death made me put things into perspective and realize how things can change in the blink of an eye. I'm always saddened when a young life, a life filled with so much talent that the world will never know, is suddenly taken. I'm trying my best to help my daughter through this difficult time as are all of the many people who loved Ben. Of all the boyfriends my daughter has ever had, I can honestly say that Ben was the only one who treated her like a queen. He was kind, generous and put others' needs before his own. When my daughter was sick, he was the one who came to her apartment to take care of her. I guess it's true that the good die young. Rest in peace, Ben. Your time here was much too short, but your memory will live on.