It’s been the best of holidays so far, but to badly mangle Tolstoy, it’s been the shittiest of holidays, as well.
We knew it’d be weird without those loved ones that we’ve lost since last Christmas. As prepared as we might’ve been emotionally, grief is a weird mistress. She doesn’t play fair.
Today, Miriam looked up to the sky & said, ‘Hör auf mit diesem Scheiß, mama!’
See, things are breaking and going missing and we’re doing our best to keep an even keel. However, sometimes the slings & arrows of life are just a bit too much.
Opa has handled having us at his place just swimmingly. He insists that he savours the time with his granddaughter, but having her parents taking up space and whatnot must be annoying sometimes.
Today, he just snapped, yet he had a good reason. Somehow, apparently out of nowhere, his bedroom door had slammed shut. There were accusations & recriminations, but the simple fact was that the door was closed & none of us could open it.
We called a friend, Harry, who was here in moments. In the meantime we had to ‘abwarten & Tee trinken’, which continues to be one of my very favourite German sayings. It means ‘wait (patiently) & drink tea’.
You know how much I like tea, so I’ve always assumed it was a Redewendung created especially for impatient folks of my type.
I’m not the easiest sort to get along with, but I’ve noticed something about myself. If everyone else is freaking out and losing their cool, I can sometimes just be rather calm in comparison.
It’s actually a conflict resolution technique I learned when I was a teenager. If someone across from you is melting down, you’ve got two obvious responses available: match their energy by freaking out in a similar manner…
or…
The opposite.
Someone starts yelling, like me when I don’t get the lollipop I wanted, and across from me there’s Miriam just stating calm, cool, and collected.
So, here’s a video (above) of me playing an Elvis-like character singing the old standard ‘All of me’:
All of me
Why not take all of me
Can’t you see
I’m no good without you
Take my lips
I want to lose them
Take my arms
I’ll never use them
Your goodbye
Left me with eyes that cry
How can I
Get along without you
You took the part
That once was my heart
So why not, why not
Take all of me
All of me
Come on get all of me
Can’t you see
I’m just a mess without you
Take my lips
I want to lose them
Get a piece of these arms
I’ll never use them
Your goodbye
Left me with eyes that cry
How can I
Ever make it without you
You know you got the part
That used to be my heart
So why not, why not
Take all of me