Talent

Well, I have 3 bags to finish packing on the living room floor. I have been jumping over them most of the evening ..putting off what I definitely need to do. For some reason, I like the adrenaline rush that comes with the final hour packing. Suddenly things become more clear and I become superstuffer. I can actually can look in my closet and see exactly what would be great for a 5 day trip out west. Then I pack too much. So here I write. Waiting for that burst of happy fun time to hit me. ( I think that Happyfuntime is an Asian diner close to here)

Then I start to count the hours of sleep I will get, if I put it off any longer. So far I am up to 6 if I finish my blog and throw things in. Then I think, well I can just sleep on the plane. Never. I can count 2 times in my life that I actually have fallen asleep on the plane. I mean, if I fall asleep, who will save the world?

Luke has 2 of the bags. He is splitting time with the grandparents for week or so. This could actually be another reason that I am not packing with gusto. We usually take the little dude everywhere. You have seen him at Luckenbach, Gruene Hall, The Crossings, Studios etc. He is a great traveler. We call him the "Road Pup".

He understands that sometimes we have to sing and drive and sing and drive and sing and drive. That's how this run is going to be. Not much fun for the pup. So he will go to granny camp for a while. Lots of good food, kindness and a wildass cat named John Deer.

This got me the other day. He said, "Mama, I don't want to be a single kid." " I want to adopt a brother that is my age. Does it cost a lot and take a long time to get another kid?" ouch.

Just when I thought we were sailing through..here comes a big punch in the stomach.

We got things going kind of late in life. We spent a lot of time fighting and making up and finally landed on the same page. Then we got married. Then we got pregnant. We actually were just making up for lost time..you know with all the days we wasted fightin'. So here comes the biggest gift we could ever have asked for. The best thing to happen to us and our open hearts and fat egos. A great blessing.

Luke had colic for exactly 3 months. He cried the minute we brought him home until that 90th day and then stopped. Walt would take him for walks around downtown Nashville where we were living, at 3 am. We lived in a cool apartment with thin brick walls, so we didn't want to keep the people up all night with the baby's crying. So he and Luke got to know a lot of the local color, that late at night. I don't think they were ever in danger or scared. They had each other.

He has been secure ever since. He is just one of those kids that are comfortable in their own skin. A great little dude. He has asked for a sibling on and off for a long time now. My standard answer is..."We will have a family talk about it and see what we can do".

Those words just kind of hang there float around for a while and then disappear. I feel like I am in limbo when he asks, and I do not really know what to say. We are 44 and 48. And musicians. We are not in the possition to adopt 10 kids like Mia Farrow (although that would be fun) (maybe we will borrow a child from Madonna)

Family is a delicate dance.

Today we attended Walt's Grandmother's funeral. She was 99 1/2. It was a sweet celebration. Sad, yes, but full of love and laughter too. She was a full of life human. Drank a Dr. Pepper everyday and back in the day, made a great chicken fried steak. She had a number of husbands..no one could remember the exact number. Somewhere around 6 they think. She had a spirit of a child and love to play. She had 10 siblings. 2 of which are still living, one of which was at the funeral. Uncle Jerry will live that long as well. Just one wife, but a great light in his eye.

Luke sat on Walt's mom's lap the entire time. This was his first funeral. It was a graveside service on a beautiful Texas Hill Country morning. He did not move. He sensed the seriousness and the great need for Marion to hold on to somebody. Whether he actually knew it or not. We were so proud to experience the wisdom of this boy. Great lessons we can learn from the youngest of the group.

So here I put off packing. It is 3 minutes to midnight and I bombarded you with Death, Children and Packing. 3 things that shouldn't be taken lightly. Maybe we will get an answer out west about a sibling. Maybe we will see random Dr. Pepper cans in mysterious places. Maybe we will find out how many husbands Granny actually had. I do know that I now have 3 bags, 6 hours and no Becker Cab left in the house, so it must be time to sign off.