Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day

my Mom and me, circa 1977

 Becoming a mother has taught me just how blessed I am to have a wide circle of mothers in my life beginning with my very own mom. Although I know she worries about the kind of job she did raising my brother and me, it was she who taught us, by example, the most important lessons I carry with me: kindness, compassion, generosity, faith, understanding, good manners and gratitude. She has always taken note of the beauty in the simplest things around her from the shape of a cloud, to the color  of the sky. I see my own two kiddos noticing the very same things. I know I don't say it enough, but thank you, Mom. I love you.

Motherhood reminds me just how much

I am grateful for 

the memories and legacies of my grandmothers 

and my Aunt Terry who loved me in a way that only grandmothers can

and who all left far too soon.

I am blessed to have my three Conaty aunts,
who are not mothers themselves but have the hearts of one.
They have loved me like their own my whole life.

I am grateful for women like Mrs. G. who had four children of her own

but somehow always found room to take on a fifth. Me. 

I am lucky to have a mother-in-law who not only raised a remarkable son for me to marry,
but loves me, treats me, and encourages me like a daughter.

I am so fortunate to have friends and family to share this experience with:

ones who understand the ins and outs of my days, my worries, my bedlam.

They are my sanity and laughter. 

They've sat with me in the E.R., run to the supermarket for me when I've been sick

and listened to me only the way a girlfriend can.

It seems it takes a village not only to raise a child, but to raise a mom, too.

Happy Mother's Day to all of these women and to you!

Erin

Homeslice...

Little, by little, I am trying to get my head around summer ending, the start of Kindergarten and Nursery School, a new routine, chapters ending and new ones beginning.  As I mentioned in my last post, my head has been anywhere but Blogland lately.  As a fairly new blogger, I really should be on it a bit more, but long days and hurricanes have been distracting me.

Centsational Girl got my attention this morning with her "Favorite Things in My Town" post.  Since the amount of projects completed this summer were surpassed by beach days and swimming lessons, I figured I'd link up and share a little bit about where I live.

It's funny. For years, I thought I would leave Long Island.  Before we had children, my husband and I had our sights set on living and teaching abroad somewhere, moving off the grid, heading south to a three-season-ish climate, basically anything but staying within five miles of the town where we grew up, met and married.  Yet, almost twelve years later here we are. So what's kept us here and makes it so special to us?

3. Location, location, location: While I honestly would love to live somewhere with a little more elbow room and trees, in a home with more character, our 1940s Cape Cod on a postage-stamp lot is Home Sweet Home.  The fact that we live about 5 miles from the beach, which we take advantage of during every season, and 30 miles from New York City make our gripes worthwhile. Being able to spend the morning in the city and the evening at the beach is totally doable and sort of makes up for the high taxes, small lots, and suburban noise.

Jones Beach, Long Island, NY

 

Times Square, NYC

Enjoying the Central Park Zoo, NYC

2. Community: The grass is always greener.  Sometimes I have a Norman Rockwell image in my head of an idyllically quiet and peaceful tree-lined street,  a house set back from the road with a wide front porch and a gracious entry. While I adore this image, I'm grounded by more concrete and tangible assets. After events like 9-11 and a fatal house fire three-doors down last year, I realize how fortunate we are to have neighbors looking out for each other. I am blessed to live on a street that is a community within itself, where neighbors know each other's names, keep an eye on each other's kids, share their generous spirit to bolster each other in times of grief, and celebrate their good fortunes heartily.

Trick-or-Treating through our neighborhood, October 2009

Memorial Day Parade, 2010

1. People: My husband always says, "It's the people who make the party." More than anything else, it's the people who are my favorite part of living on Long Island.  We are both blessed to have family and childhood friends and their families living within miles and minutes of us. Since having children, this support system has been more important than ever. 

lifelong friends, second generation

 cousins and neighbors

While the beaches are beautiful, the city spectacular, and our schools top-notch, it's these  connections that give us the comfort and stability we are so fortunate to have. An adventure down the road is always possible, but for now, we're content right where we are.

What's the best part of your hometown, whether newfound or lifelong?

Erin