The Parish Family Blog

Friday Night ... at Home ...

Home with Lily and some of her classmates, watching a movie. Pretty silly stuff - "Mr Bean's Holiday".
As goofy as Mr. Bean's movies are, this comedy routine from Rowan Atkinson on drumming is quite brilliant. Not exactly a date night but at least it's a break from the week. Lots of laughing.

Focus on the New Year - Contemplation and Change

Lily and I are back from Michigan - geesch was it cold. Had a wonderful time, though.  We arrived home late Friday. The weekend has been a slow and contemplative one. We've both  been siting quietly and reading quite a bit. There has been some grocery shopping for the week.

On the spur of the moment Lily said, "Let's go out to see a movie," and suggested we see Charlie Wilson's War, so we did. The movie stars Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. I was curious why Tom Hanks would star in a rather politically oriented film. After seeing the movie I totally get it. It's one of those movies that had me thinking about it the next day.  Makes me think about how our past can shape our future if we don't stop to remember how all our actions affect others, often in ways we least expect it. This I'm sure is true for us personally as well as politically. Catch the movie - you'll see.

Here is the summary from Netflix:
"Texas congressman Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) sets a series of earth-shaking events in motion when he conspires with a rogue CIA operative (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to aid Afghan mujahedeen rebels in their fight against the Soviet Red Army. Julia Roberts, Emily Blunt and Amy Adams co-star in this fact-based political thriller directed by Mike Nichols and based on George Crile's 2003 book by the same name."

The other tasks Lily and I put our minds to was a vision for the house for 2008. Though we have many new plans, the one we discussed first was the inevitability of taking down all the Sharon Parish memorial pictures we've had hanging on the hallway and living room walls. It just feels like the time is right.  Yep ... I felt pangs of sadness, yet I also felt a sense of completeness and that it seemed the right thing to do now as we've come to the second year of her passing.

I'm not sure what  to do with them. I'm going to check with the close relatives and see which ones they might want.  If there are some left over I commit to making them available to whomever might be interested.

I'm keeping a couple of them, the ones you see hanging on the wall (for now). I'm mulling over where I want to put at least one of the two pictures of us standing in a field in Sedona, Ariz. That was a beautiful and deeply loving time we enjoyed together many many years ago now. 

This is just one of the many difficult tasks I'm sure all face who lose a loved one: Eventual placement of personal pictures and moving on in our lives.  I feel ready to make those choices now, and I am doing that with love and respect. 

With gratitude
Tom