Thanks, Liz, for picking me up in Wisconsin and driving me all over, to here and to dinner in Chicago with your brother and Tony. Very nice afternoon and evening. Liz and I are talking nonstop, so the drives are going by pretty quickly.
Liz is now reading the book of Linda stories. I hope to have them as a PDF or something that will be available to everyone (who wants to see). That will have to wait for a consultation with folks more savvy than I am. Clearly.
So we said goodbye this morning, the 6 of us students and one rabbi who participated in the workshop. I think it was useful. We'll see. The "product" of the weekend was a thesis statement for life: what rules / suggestions do we want to live by, what would we share with others. I'll share mine a bit later. Rabbi Karyn Kedar said to put the list in our High Holiday prayerbook and not look at it until then (end of September). I think I need to process a bit more first.
None of the floors in this house are absolutely flat and perpendicular to the ground. It is totally delightful and filled with a wide variety of art. Lots of fun.
It will not be easy, getting all my stuff packed into the suitcase. But I still have room to expand it to accomodate shoes that were in the back seat of the car during the drive, and the t-shirts (go Badgers!) that were purchased, etc.
And so, this stage of the journey is almost complete. It was very important to get away from California (but i do miss all you guys, really i do). I needed some perspective and some distance and now it is almost time to get back to the new version of normal. The revised, edited version of Deborah. At times it is easier than others. And that's good. I still carry tissues regularly. One book said it is good to spend half an hour each day thinking about our loved one. That is both easy and difficult. Thanks to Shelley's reminder, I can hear Linda's voice, on her outgoing message on the cell phone. That's all I have. It still is a sadness that we didn't do any voice recordings or videotapes of Linda....singing, laughing, playing music. Anything. There is nothing except that small snippet and a small piece on Rochelle's old answering machine. I have been told that it will come back to me later. I can feel Linda's touch, snuggling in her left arm. That's important too, but I'd like to be able to hear her voice. Really I would.
