Word Play

Mom & I watch a lot of t.v. But we also know how to turn it off when there's nothing we want to watch. We play a lot of board games. And tonight, since we ate early and it's a holiday night, we played Scrabble.

I LOVE words (okay, I'm a writer!) And I've scored over 300 on my last 2 games, so I'm feeling pretty confident. I won tonight. :) It helps to get the Q and the Z.

And as we played, we spoke of Jolene.

Jolene was very bright. She also used words like weapons, very articulate. She could read and digest almost anything.

She just couldn't write correct sentences. Poor motor coordination resulted in terrible penmanship. She also did not spell very well, a minor case of dislexia.

So, I never played Scrabble with Jolene. It was a set up for failure, and she didn't tolerate losing very well.

As we membered, Mom and I spoke with fondness and not tears. "She need a game where you had to make up words!" Mom joked.

I laughed. "Yeah, 'mack up, Mom, mack up!'" Which in Jolene's unique language, meant something between "do what you said you would do" and "do what I think you should do." (At times it was hard to tell.)

It was good to remember the good times and not to cry volumes the way we did yesterday.

Both are part of grieving, and letting go. Only today was a lot easier.

Thanks for all your prayers. I know they have made a huge difference.