Peace, love and Eliza Dushku

Dushku as Faith Lehane

A while back I promised someone that I would write about why I often sign emails and letters with the salutation, “Peace, love and Eliza Dushku.”  Since May 10th is not far away, I figured now was as good a time as any to make good on it.

Last year, May 10th was Mother’s Day.  It was also the day my mom died of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.  After two of the busiest months I can remember, I proceeded to spend the rest of 2009 completely losing my mind.  And I don’t mean that as a joke.

Part of the reason for my almost complete detachment with reality was due to my fantastic ability to bury things (among other factors).  I can bury things so deep they become completely invisible.  The only problem is, they tend to then unbury themselves and beat me repeatedly with a pointed stick.  And then I bury them, and then they scratch and claw their way back up and flog me with a wet tire iron.

A weekend that highlights what I’ve learned

It’s Sunday night and I’m not really sure what I’m going to say yet about this weekend, so this may or may not turn into a rambling mess.  I thought stream of consciousness would be more honest, so there you go.

A very quick back story:  My mother was thrilled in 2009 when The Goddess Festival was born.  Because of her health, she wasn’t able to attend nearly as much of it as she wanted.  The fact that Vick Kelley was a part of it was a bonus to mom, because she always loved Vick, and Vick had been very helpful throughout mom’s illness and at many other times.

The new project

I’ve now moved all book-related news to ChristySummerland.com.

Random quotes from the last few months

In going back over some emails and phone messages, I’ve gathered some interesting random quotes  by people I’ve sought counseling from since my mom died.  There isn’t really anything earth-shattering, but some are just interesting enough to make me go, “hmm…that’s right.”  Thought I’d share a few, without mentioning names.

“It’s amazing how charming truly nasty people can be when other people come around.”

“The haughtier someone is when they tell you an obvious lie, the less conscience they have about telling the lie.”

“You can’t hold behavior against someone right away after a death because grief might be controlling them.  A few months later if they’re still dicks, they probably just are.  I wouldn’t worry about it either way.”

“Watch out for irrational people.”

“You’re starting on a new life.  Don’t let anybody try to make you live theirs.”

Eulogy for my mom

I sat down to write this with no idea what I was going to say or how I was going to say it. A lot of people knew Mom really well, from how giving she could be to how outright ornery she could be. That’s ornery in a good way of course. They knew her as a friend, a confidante, a sister, an aunt, an adopted grandma and a social butterfly. Some knew her as an accountant who had no problem asking, “Why in the world did you do this?” Shawn and I will remember her as quite possibly the best mother on the planet. So instead of writing about things a lot of other people already knew, I figured I’d write about things special just to us, and a few more I just couldn’t help but mention.