Most recently, on The Handmaid’s Tale, a line is spoken that captures how it is:
“We only wanted to make things better. Better never means better for everyone.”
So true.
It’s a two-in-one edition of the TToT this week, as last week I allowed my mood and a bad sun burn on both arms to dictate my lack of a post.
I’m thankful for an unexpected email.
The anthology I was published in two years ago is being rereleased this summer. I received the surprise email to confirm I still wanted to be a part of the project.
I’m thankful for a successful first violin lesson in weeks.
Other than writing, I have never felt so frustrated one minute and wanting to give up and then so determined the next minute as I feel with the violin. It’s my roller coaster.
I’m thankful for an anniversary celebrated with my friends at “The Elsewhere Region”.
We celebrated the existence of writing group, two years on, with blueberry cheesecake and, you guessed it, writing.
I have written more fiction, more stories, starting during those nights in the group than I’ve done on my own time in a while. The short story I submitted to the Alice Munro Short Story Contest, for instance, was begun there. Though I found out this week that I did not qualify with it (bummer), I am still glad it came out of that place.
I hope there are many more still to come.
I’m thankful for the chance to see my sister included in a team of dedicated women.
My dad and I walked to see her game the one night. We stood there and I listened as best I could. It was the sound of the coaches leading their players, encouraging them by shouting positive reinforcement and the other teammates cheering them on that was so nice to see.
My sister hasn’t played in over ten years, since before motherhood and time gone by, which makes it all the much harder to jump back into a game like baseball. I admire that.
Hearing a group of women encouraging each other to do their best. I wish I could be a part of something like that.
I’m thankful that my nephew is getting more comfortable with his baseball.
He is still so little, but he will get there. Maybe he will play for many years and maybe he’ll ultimately decide baseball isn’t for him. Either way, he gets to learn about being on a team, just like his mom.
I’m thankful for my sister, two years older.
Our two-year age gap feels like nothing really. She will always be my big sister though. She is one of my biggest influences, an example I follow, two years behind and I like celebrating her every May that comes around with the loveliness of spring.
I’m thankful for a Friday morning surprise phone call.
I’ve volunteered with the Kidney Foundation of Canada for years, since soon after my transplant, and now I was contacted about getting involved more so, possibly with public speaking opportunities about diagnosis, dialysis, living donation, organ transplant, and hopefully to offer some hope that life can be good for twenty years with care and a little bit of luck.
I’m thankful for an enlightening and enjoyable conversation with my new neighbour.
She showed me around her home and we sat at her kitchen table for over two hours, talking about writing, the town we live in, family, and she wanted to meet the rest of mine.
She came by two days later, for a drink, to meet my brothers and my sister-in-law and the kids.
I’m thankful for a family day.
We were celebrating my sister’s birthday when we could all be together.
It was Victoria Day long weekend here in Canada. This means the carnival comes close to my house and we all walked down there together.
My nephews went on the cars and my niece went on a few rides all by herself. She is braver than I ever was when I was her age.
We went on the gravity ride with her (my brothers and I) and it felt both good and bad.
It was a glimpse of what going on a ride like that was like as a kid, moments of pure pleasure, and then I’d return to being thirty-three and I’d feel a little ill and I was off balance for a long time after the ride ended.
We passed games with those people yelling and bells ringing and buzzers buzzing. It was loud and a little went a long way, but I remember what it was like to find such a thrill from a place like that.
The child roller coaster was loudest of all. Every click/thud of the cars as they went around the bends and up and down, up and down. Life is loud and uncomfortable a lot of times.
I’m thankful for extended family that are cool and care about what’s most important.
whole front porch
We had a lovely afternoon sitting on my front porch and talking about everything under the sun. My aunt and uncle spoke about my cousins and we discussed movies and animals and family.
As for roller coasters…
Buckle up because we’re only about ten feet up the clicky part.
—The Daily Show
Whether it’s 45, a sicko who attacks a concert full of young girls, an attack on a bus in Egypt, a knife attack by a white supremacist on a train, I can’t seem to get off the roller coaster, but gratitude for family and fun and flowers takes the edge off the nausea a little bit.
But check this out.
Grandma is always the wise one.
RIP to all who have been lost in the last few weeks.
I’m always thankful for life.
Her Headache 
“The anthology I was published in two years ago is being rereleased this summer.” that is very cool
hey! the title! references to parts of solid body guitars! (had my time in a band playing them… as did everyone in my generation, except those who were busy becoming doctors, lawyers and other real people).
Have never been on a roller coaster. was on a ferris wheel once…was not amused.
(I did enjoy some of the other threat-simulation amusement rides, though)
Really? You know about what my title means but you’ve never been on a roller coaster. Hmm. I was wondering if anyone might guess what my title is. My brother read it on Facebook and showed me and I just thought the word combination was funny and the alliteration of p…p…p was a fun one. Most people might read it and think I just had a stroke.
We went to a festival here yesterday and I rode one of the rides with Tucker and OUCH! It hurt! Roller coasters are much smoother (in my opinion). Your porch and porch time sound perfect and it must smell so good there. I was really bummed to read about Chris Cornell as well… so sad. Here’s to family time. That line from Handmaid’s Tale got me, too. There’s a shirt and bumper sticker I’ve seen that say something like “Make Margaret Atwood fiction again!”
My niece was just loving it and so did I, to a point. Yes, Chris had such a powerful voice.
Like Kristi Campbell, I was imagining how wonderful that wisteria must smell! It is a gorgeous photo!
I grew up in Oregon (though not Portland), and have been thinking about those brave men who stood up for those girls on the train. It does seem that senseless violence comes more and more frequently, but there are so many good people who are willing to stand up and speak for what is right.
I’d say wisteria smells more floral. Up close it is not the sweetest smelling of flowers, but it is so purple and fragrant. The bees were just loving it the day we were sitting out there.
Yes, so many good people to balance it all out.
What a great TToT you’ve put together this week, Kerry! I love that opening quote, too often we tend to think of better in terms of what’s better for us or what we think is better for someone else, but that isn’t always all-encompassing.
I’m delighted that the anthology you are included in is going to be re-released, and also that your violin lesson went well after so long. I am convinced that you will master this one day, because you are determined, and determination wins! ❤
I love your writing group, the sense of camaraderie and encouragement is so powerful, these are the healthy kinds of relationships women need to foster instead of always seeing other women as competition.
It is awesome that you got to enjoy listening to your sister participating in a ball game and also were able to attend the carnival. You are braver than me for taking on those dizzying rides! I can imagine how at times the noise level in crowds can be overwhelming and even painful. I wear hearing aids and don't hear well without them, but at times things are MUCH too loud at public events and I find myself covering my ears and wanting to escape.
You are blessed to experience time with your extended family, and to have a sister that you are so close to! Family is our first love and often where we can be the most real. I really like your new neighbor and that she wants to develop a friendship with you and your family, she is definitely a bright blessing in your life!
I can't think of anyone better to serve with the Kidney Foundation, you are so very good with words, and I know any presentation you make would be compelling. People are going to find you easy to like too, and in that they will learn from you!
You are right that life is a rollercoaster and our thoughts and emotions are surely kept rolling up and down on one these days. It's hard to find stability and peace of mind in such an unsettling and often cruel world, but the world badly needs your calm and your ability to persevere and move forward. We can be the light, we can be the calm in the storm. We can even be the brakes on the wild rolller coaster!
Thank you for joining us for TToT this week! Like you, I am always thankful for life!
XOXO Wishing you a peaceful and positive week ahead!
I’m not sure determination is necessarily enough or if I am nearly determined like I could be. I want it so much, to at least learn enough to play something that sounds like music, but it is harder than I could have ever imagined.
All the women in my writing group are creative and funny with their writing. We don’t feel any sort of competition in that room. That’s why I like it. We are just there to share with one another.
My neighbour is so friendly. I am not great socially a lot of the time and so her outgoing personality helps bring me out of my shell and feel much more comfortable.
Yes, it’s total sensory overload. I want to cover my ears and run from the noise.
I hope I could give some new patients hope and I would love to speak about how lucky I feel.
I can also be the breaks when I need to be, while also enjoying the ride of life as much as possible.
Thanks Josie.
I loved learning so much more about you / your life – thank you!
Well I appreciate you visiting here. Come back anytime.
Congrats on the re-release! That is a fun surprise.
Oh, me and rides…I am a chicken. Plus I get motion sickness on a porch swing! It is best for me to stay firmly planted!
Your porch seems about as nice a place to be as any I can think of. Here’s to a whole summer of weekends spent there!
Yes. I wish I could invite all TToT bloggers onto my porch for a conversation and a cold drink. Have a lovely week May.
Your heart and your life are full of love and caring and giving and learning and writing and people to do it with. Porch sitting is more my speed than carnival rides – even as a kid. I love the similarity of writing and violin playing. To quote (paraphrase) my favorite movie again (League of Their Own) “it’s the tough that makes it great.” Talking about the game of baseball, no less, but I think it applies.
I hate carnival rides. HAAAATE them! Always have. They make me feel strange, and no amount of peer pressure got me on them. My husband is the same way, and my kids are, too, which worked out great when we went to amusement parks with them, since no one rode anything remotely scary!
That wisteria is so lovely, although it reminds me of when we first bought our house in the hills outside Los Angeles. I was reading a local paper and there had been a customer at a nursery bitten my a rattlesnake that was lurking in the wisteria! I was wishing we could get out of our house deal if there were going to be rattlesnakes around us!
I think it’s awesome that you work with the kidney foundation. Who better to talk to patients about transplants? You’re an inspiration!
That is great that your anthology is going to be released this summer!
The wisteria is beautiful. It looks like a very old plant, considering the size.
This grandma has never liked roller coasters and has only been on the ones for kids, unless you count the roller coaster type rides at Disneyland which are inside buildings and in the dark. I love the thrill of the ride, as long as I can’t see down. Kind of strange isn’t it?
Walking by all the barkers at the carnival section of the fair and hearing all the loud music was not my favorite place to walk. I only tried one game of chance at the fair as a child. Since I was pretty tight with my money, I wasn’t going to keep playing and losing more than winning. 🙂
That is great that you might possibly be a speaker for the Kidney Foundation of Canada. You would be a wonderful motivational speaker.