Thank you for your kind wishes

I am about to sign off for a few days, but before I do, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has sent me messages of support in anticipation of my Mom's surgery.

Friends from the blog, near and far, have been very kind. I have a good support system in place, so we are in good shape as we prepare to face this head on.

It is interesting to see how a support system is necessarily an interconnected web. In order to support my Mom, I need my husband to take over many things I would normally do, and friends to help fill in the gaps. My Mom, over the past eight years, has provided priceless childcare for our daughter (not to mention the years she spent raising me....). We are happy to be able to help her now when she needs family to lean on. As I say in the dedication in my book, How can I ever say thank you?

So much for a Republican-style illusion of "Rugged American Individualism." None of us can do this alone.