Of Greetings and Goodbyes

My grandfather passed away Friday, March 19th at 3:09 pm.

Despite my quick blurb about it last week, my grandfather's illness wasn't insignificant. When he had his heart attack two weeks ago, it was devastating. All I wanted was for him to come home but he had another heart attack and died days before he was going to come back.

I'm twenty-four years old and have never NOT lived with my grandfather. In all these years there have been a grand total of sixty days I did not speak to him, and many of those were days I spent at summer camp. He and grandma were the constant in my life, the one source of unconditional love that I wholeheartedly trusted, no matter what severity of teenage angst I was currently experiencing. Grandpa was in every way my father; I called him papi, the greatest endearment I gave anyone.

He walked me to school every single day from ages four through eleven. When I turned twelve and demanded some independence, he trailed a block behind, ever watchful of my steps while giving me space to bloom. He doled out allowances easily, a penny-pincher who didn't give a second thought to getting me ice cream after school or a Slice and a slice (a slice of cheese pizza with a can of Slice soda).

Grandpa and I were odd ones out; we were Mets fans in a household of Yanks. We leaned fiscally towards the right (though he didn't blink twice when my rainbow flag assured I'd always be socially left of center). When I showed off my head of blue hair, he waved off the family's shock and told me I looked fabulous...My grandfather made me feel fabulous every day of my life. He taught me to read and write in Spanish and marveled at my bilingual skills when I picked up English at school. He praised my penmanship when it looked like chicken scratch. He taught me to pick avocados and oranges, his favourite. He taught me to be creative, crazy, daring; When my grandfather discovered an orange tree in the public park he knew it was fair game. He spent half an hour in the backyard and when he came back in, he was wielding a weapon of epic harvesting proportions. Grandpa had taken a broom handle, a curtain rod, a wire hanger, and some duct tape and fashioned himself an orange whacker. He marched to the public park every day during the summer months and would return with bags upon bags of Florida oranges. Even now I still smell the faint whiff of citrus from the bedroom he shared with my grandma, his wife of sixty-four years.

Grandpa was also the best comforter in the world. He understood the disconnect between my head and my heart, the way I could rationalize sadness and go about my day with a smile and tears coexisting on my face. At those times he started all his sentences the same way: "So..."

When my dog died: "So you mourn, you feel better, you get another dog."
When I skinned my knee: "So you wipe it off, get up, and go back and play."
When my aunt died: "So you remember the good times, take a deep breath, and keep on living."

These were the good times.

I've taken my deep breath.

Here I go.

SOTW: Pint of Guiness Make You Strong

In honour of St. Patrick's Day and great songs everywhere, the song of the week is Pints of Guiness Make You Strong by Against Me!

Long Overdue

What's been going on with me? Well...

1. I quit my job. Rather, I quit doing it full-time at least citing my growing concern for my grandparents whom, if you don't know by now, I happen to live with. My concern was valid as two days before my last day...
2. My grandfather had a heart attack. At the hospital he was found to have prostate cancer which was caught too late - it has already spread to his other organs and spine.
3. Right before then my cousin was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes (or, juvenile diabetes, as it was commonly called up to a few years ago).
   
4. My father is also in the hospital for undisclosed reasons and will be there for a few months.
   

Bad things come in threes, right? So I'm hoping those are my three (since number one was my own doing and not a bad thing at all, all things considered).

What this means is I haven't been writing. Hell, I'm not even inspired to write. I have little blips of MFOG and then, bam, gone again. I have found time to try and organize my life which is easier said than done. Oh, and playing board games.



Look at that: in the game of life I'm a rich lesbian! If only...

Until next time!

♥ Jess

lueneburger altstadt

lueneburger altstadt
Originally uploaded by manfred-hartmann

SOTW: Set the Fire to the Third Bar

Goddamn you, Snow Patrol.

The Easiest Chicken Noodle Soup Ever

Chicken Noodle Soup
Originally uploaded by popsicles for dinner

When I'm sick, cold, tired, or just having an awful week, there is nothing more comforting than soup. I love it all: legumes, chilis, stews, broths, creams, soups of every texture and taste. The easiest soup of all though? The classic chicken noodle.

To share the recipe seems ridiculous because there isn't much of one. It's 12 cups of water, a can of low sodium chicken broth, enough adobo, parsely, salt, and pepper to season, two handfuls of wide egg noodles, three carrots, peeled and sliced, two celery sticks, sliced, and about two cups of cooked chicken (breast or dark meat, either is fine). Simmer for about 40 minutes. That's it.

I tend to like mine thick so I actually serve myself with a slotted spoon and then ladle some broth into my bowl.

Easiest comfort ever.

SOTW: Shake It Out

If you don't know MO, you should. I heard one song from them a while ago and ended up buying their first record on a whim. I was not disappointed. Their second album, Mean Everything to Nothing is amazing.

Song of the Week: Shake It Out by Manchester Orchestra

My mouth! My beautiful mouth!

Jumping right in: I was in pain this past Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The pain was right between my two front teeth, at the gum line. I made an emergency visit to the dentist Thursday because the pain got so bad, I couldn't speak. Doc said I had an infection in my gums that was due to an old cavity and some plaque, loss of bone in my jaw, and that both issues were being affected by overgrown frenum. Now, I've always had a problem with my mouth. It works just fine, don't get me wrong, but I've always felt like my lips and teeth were abnormally connected. Every time I so much as frowned my lips would pull on my gums which was causing me a lot of pain. Alas, that is a problem no more.

The doc opened his clinic on their day off to fix the issue. Two hours and a nifty laser later, my frenum has been cut down and I have enough antibiotics to kill the black plague.

In a month I go back to do the top of my mouth. I also have a tight frenum under my tongue (an issue known as "tongue-tied") but the thought of cutting under my tongue squigs me out. I think I'll keep the tongue as is.

That's my exciting update for the day!

SOTW: The Crowing

I'm alive, I swear. I just need to wake up a bit. This is the perfect song for that.

Song of the Week: The Crowing by Coheed and Cambria

SOTW: One of those hauntingly beautiful ones...

Song of the Week: Wake Up by Arcade Fire

This one makes me smile and cry at the same time.