My espresso maker

Here it is, in all its glory. Just seeing it perched on my stovetop brings a smile to my face. It's not the aroma of the coffee, it's the aroma of my former happy life.

They say that good things come from bad things. One of the good things has been hearing from so many people in response to this blog. I treasure each and every phone call and email. They all help. I was thinking as I took my daily sunset walk today that I am very rich. I have three wonderful families: 1) my blood family (the Druces/Sklars), 2) my Lui family, and 3) my family of friends. They are all very dear to me and I'm glad that this situation has brought me back in touch with so many of them.

I don't have anything new to report. Today was not a good day for me. The last few months I've been on an emotional roller coaster. I pretty much restricted my original blog, the one for general viewership (http://www.laureldruce.blogspot.com/) to positive entries. I'm going to be more honest and forthright here. This blog is to keep you updated on everything that's going on, and I promise to do that. Today I allowed myself to get emotional and to visit what I call my dark hole. I wrote a poem about this dark hole:
I’m at the bottom of a deep black hole
There’s a little light streaming in
I dig and I dig – dirt gets under my nails
I inch closer to the light, but still,
I can’t stand up, the ceiling’s too low.
Some hands reach in, try to pull me out
But I’m stuck.
Some hands gently push me from behind towards the light.
I can smell the air, see the bright colors.
I want to be there – I can breathe it, it’s calling me.
But I’m stuck. And it’s comfortable here. It’s warm.
And known.
But stale. And messy. I don’t like it. I want to leave.
My hand is through! I can feel the sunshine!
An inch at a time – I’m moving. I’m getting there.
Wait for me, Sun! I’m coming!
That pretty much describes how I felt today. But I'm out of the hole now and looking forward to getting back into action tomorrow. Friday I interview two estate sale liquidation companies, and this weekend Trish and her boyfriend are coming to help me clean out the house. That's it for now. Again, thanks for caring and for calling/emailing me.