The sun is streaming in here- Wednesday. My little peach tree- on the front lawn is in full bloom. Ah kin pinch myself- ah, yes ah is still alive- still above ground right now.

Long ago i would have retired to the back of the yard- and left Alanon behind. Today's reading in HFT was a about sexual abuse. I did not experience that- But I did feel completely emasculated through my experience with the disease. I suffered from periods of gross neglect as a kid and that sense of abandonment never left me.

I find myself closely aligned with people who have felt broken and lost- for all sorts of reasons. I flip-flopped between feeling like I was  the only person in the world- to thinking 'my life was not nearly so bad as that!' And this flip-flopping bought me healing.

This weekend we spend time with our son and family- a long way north of here. When I share- ah sometimes pass myself off as a southerner. But not as you might think- I live just north of Antarctica. And i come from a rural culture. Y'all come back now!  ...

But family is family everywhere... I say it as "he whanau, he whanau"... family is family.

Bin through a lot of bumps and bruises. But I have sat amongst a lot of true and wonderful people. My sense of family is much broader than most.

it is a treat, and a privilege to be here...  ...

...thanks...