Rekha's Ramblings

  Last week, my heart felt heavier than usual. The news was hard to ignore.  A prominent Virginian had shot his wife and then taken his own life.  Their teenage children were in the house.  I remember pausing, unable to move past the headline. Not because it was unfamiliar — we hear stories like these far too often — but because something about it settled deep within me. Maybe it was the children. Maybe it was the silence that must have followed. And then, quietly, my mind wandered. I want you to meet the man behind the scenes. Not the one in the headlines. But the one I know — the one I built a life with. When we met, we were young and, if I’m being honest, a little foolish. We didn’t have all the answers. We didn’t even have most of the questions figured out. We had our differences, our share of arguments, our ups and downs that sometimes felt bigger than us. There were moments when walking away might have seemed easier. But we didn’t. We stayed. Not because everyt...

 It’s almost back-to-college time for many of us in the USA. This morning, I drove my daughter back to campus—just the two of us. Her twin brother left a couple of days ago to prepare for band camp; this is his second year being one of the drum majors. This is their final year. Both of them are excited. They are happy to return to the campus, their other HOME , their happy place , and I am grateful that they are doing well and have found a happy place. They are going through some “happiness/sadness” as well; this being their last year performing in a marching band, may be their final school year.    We know the drill by now—move the boxes in, run to the grocery store, stock a few shelves, hug, goodbye. And then, drive away. The tears couldn’t come any quickly on the ride back home, in the car—lots of them.  After three months of having them home, coming back to the house was not the same. Our evenings had been filled with music, my middle child at t...

 They came; my daughter, grown and flown, out of the nest, and a few of her friends from her university. They are part of a dance team.  They came to perform at an event locally. They came  to our house after the performance and spent the night at our house.  They ate, they talked, they included my husband and I into their conversation.  They went out on the deck,  the temperature was in the 40's.  They made s'mores, they started singing," down by the bay, where the watermelons grow".  My daughter told her friends how much I used to love singing that song to them when they were little. I had completely forgotten; the lyrics would not come back to me no matter how hard I tried ....  Then they came back inside, hovered over the kitchen island, had a long discussion whether to bake cookies or not, baked them, ate them.   Then they started  dancing to Just Dance. (They are part of a competitive dance team, I already told you that...