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I am Here

I am Here

I'm sitting on a wooden bench at a table in a large, family-sized cabin at McLaren Falls Park http://www.bayofplentynz.com/Tourism-Bay-Of-Plenty/McLaren-Falls-Park_IDL=3_IDT=1378_ID=9268_.html  I'm spending the night with 2 other widowed mums and 7 children. We've just celebrated Jared's 12th birthday with a chocolate cake decorated to look like a soccer field. Jared would later vomit his dinner and the cake. Poor birthday boy.

I played a game of flashlight (or "torch," in Kiwi) hide-and-seek with the kids. And I've downed 3/4's of a bottle of Gewurtztraminer I bought while in Hawke's Bay last weekend. A fire is burning in the stove – it's so warm I removed my souvenir "Australia" sweatshirt and sit here in a tank top and jeans.

Another mum, Janet, tells me the cabin's made of wood called Lockwood...it expands and contracts. She says it goes "bang" in the night (thanks for the tip – I would've freaked). Earlier, Janet told me her husband, Jeff, died 12 years ago of Motor Neuron Disease. While he was sick, he wrote a book with a special computer using his big toe. "Oh," I said. Janet described how Jeff had lost the ability to talk and swallow. "It sounds like ALS," I said. "Yes," Janet said. "It was Lou Gehrig's Disease. You call it ALS in the States." Oh my God.

You cling to the present. Hold onto the gift. Think about this moment...this moment.... I am here. I am here. I am here. I'm in New Zealand. I'm in New Zealand. I'm in New Zealand. Thank you, God. I am here.

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 28, 2011 at 1:33 PM

    It was a great night. We HAVE to do it again without the rain!

    ReplyDelete

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