Number 1A

"Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself... You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. "

Gibran, Kahlil Lebanese-American author (1883-1931)

My eldest daughter is arriving today for a two week visit with her partner. Because of the far flung nature of families these days, I only get to see my daughters perhaps once a year, sometimes more. This daughter lives in Saskatchewan which is geographically distant from Newfoundland. But we never know where life takes us, so I support and encourage adventures and forays into other cities, provinces and countries. I believe that nothing helps you grow and develop more than immersion into something that is completely out of your comfort zone.

This daughter - Number 1A - (the younger is Number 1B) will have a birthday on August 2nd and my mother, her grandmother, on July 31st so we will have a joint 'do' this weekend to tide them over for another year. My daughter will be 31 this year. I wonder how on earth this happened. It seems literally only moments ago when she was a small baby, a toddler, a school girl. Time moves too quickly and the passage of time makes me face the fact that as fast as the girls have grown, I have moved forward too.

This is a sketch of her that I found in an old sketch book, circa 1988! Now if I can just get her to sit still long enough while she's here, I'll get a chance to do a decent portrait of her.