balancing act

"You'll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You'll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life's a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left. And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed!(98 and 3 / 4 percent guaranteed.) KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!
So... be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea, you're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So...get on your way!"
-Dr. Seuss (Oh the Places You'll Go)

My senior year of high school I memorized the book, 'Oh the Places You'll Go' by Dr. Seuss and recited it at our Baccalaureate. There are moments even now when sections of it come to mind in day to day life. It's still one of my favorite books by Dr. Seuss as it really is the simple poetry and beauty of everyday life. 

Today while taking a few shots with a tea cup that belonged to my mom, Torrey had the idea of grabbing the signed copy of 'Etiquette' by Emily Post (that my dad had given her this past year birthday). We added to the balance by including 'Handbook for Girls' that belonged to Stan's grandma, and a Chesterton book of mine. A little picture of family together, even when we are apart. 

I love looking through my dad's books when I have the strength. He was a chronic highlighter (as am I). We even teased him when he was quite jaundice from the liver disease that he'd spent too much time with his highlighters. But his marked up books highlight thoughts that were of great significance in my dad's life at different moments. They are like little yellow windows into his heart. I treasure them now more than ever.

top to bottom:
the cup belonged to my mom
the Chesterton book is mine
the 'Handbook for Girls' belonged to Stan's grandma
'Etiquette' was a gift to Torrey from my dad 
and the sweet girl, for the time being, belongs to Stan & me

"The supreme adventure is being born. There we do walk suddenly into a splendid and startling trap. There we do see something of which we have not dreamed before. Our father and mother do lie in wait for us and leap out on us, like brigands from a bush. Our uncle is a surprise. Our aunt is, in the beautiful common expression, a bolt from the blue. When we step into the family, by the act of being born, we do step into a world which is incalculable, into a world which could do without us, into a world that we have not made. In other words, when we step into a family we step into a fairy-tale."

-G.K. Chesterton (Brave New Family)