A Charles Dickens Novel...

Hard times ahead. (Get it? Charles Dickens? Ah, a sense of humor is one of the divine gifts in life.) I wish it were hard times for me, but that's not exactly the case. My mom's brother (so, my uncle) died this past week, and I have one important revelation to share: This is the first time in my lifetime that I have not been able to be there for my mom during a difficult time.

It's mainly difficult because I feel that I owe every part of myself to my mother and her family -- they shaped who I am and I who I will become in the years following. I consider myself somewhat of a child from a single parent home, since I grew up in my mother's home. And I've been there for her through both parent's deaths, aunts and uncles of her own, and other acquaintances that we both held dear.

Now I know that some of you might say, "But Madame, you can still be there for her even though you're not THERE for her." And this is true. But it's not the same, and for the first time in my life, I'm finding that out.

But who can't help to be comforted when you have such a cute kitty as this around you: