catharsis and wine...a most excellent combination

I am one of the most fortunate people I know.

I am not financially stable. I am not particularly popular. I am not especially attractive. I am not all that intelligent.

You know what I got?

Love.

I have a family...a family that defies description (but I wouldn't be Erin unless I tried!). I have a father I can stay up half the night with talking about faith and souls and politics and truth. He has taught me that nothing is impossible and has passed on a belief in the human race I am so grateful for. I have a sister who can pull off family pictures for the first time in years, convince people they are in control without giving up control herself, and accept individuals without judgement. I have a mother...my mother bakes the best rum cakes on the face of the planet. My mother acknowledges her limitations and still aims for perfection. She loves with a fierceness I aspire to every day of my life.

And my friends?

Nothing is more amazing than having friends for so many years you forgot how long you've known each other and yet still be able to learn how much you have in common as adults. To look across a table at someone and say "I know EXACTLY how you feel! I'm NOT crazy and alone! Let's make a pact involving bottles of expensive booze, empty wombs, and never ever EVER forgetting that looking out for ourselves doesn't mean we're selfish!"

This week in Vermont has been tumultuous. And I still have to survive the Christmas party where I will be told 8,000 times how sorry everyone is that they weren't able to meet my boyfriend and observe people I graduated from high school with juggle being a parent to 3 kids and interact socially with their own parents. I'm optimistic my brother-in-law and I will make it through thanks to the fifth of Bacardi he brought.

And yet aside from my own attitude, which has been "fresh" at the very least, I wouldn't change a thing.

I don't need money. I don't need things. I have everything I need right here.

All I need to do is come back home.

It's all here waiting for me.