Visits. Angela and LA. Summer 2010

Summer in Phoenix is passing by quickly. After July 4th, time seemed to pick up. Our days are filled, and we are building community here.  We have also been blessed with many visitors.  My sister Angela visited at the end of July.  She has graduated College, and is now an RN.  We took the time to celebrate together and she and Olivia had a chance to make some memories too.  We also took a drive to LA to visit Grandma Olivia, Bri's Mom, for her birthday, and spent time with our great friends.  The photos below capture summer so far, and the poems express how the transitions, relationships, and memories have imprinted my heart.

swim class
The cool water washes over heat. My daughter- I breathe.
Rescue my love from times ahead...times behind. Dive into my arms.
I will catch you.  Catch you and offer you dreams, and life so full of water- less of tears.
If you rest peaceful then we may all dream of happiness. Phoenix your home. Tegus your rescue.

Angela and Olivia. Community Pool

I wish everyone to be here in the same moment. Take a photo in my mind and print it on my heart. Distance cries out in lonely times.  Build me a memory album taped with photos of love and promises. Here we are safe. We are happy. We miss you. Can I be filled and emptied at the same time.  Tears blend into waterfalls that swell around the pool of our love.

Vic and Angel. Random coffee shop. Cave creek

Sisters driving down roads blossoming with cactus.  Is this real my- New York City bad self and sun kissed Santa Monica dream life? Is this my home of desert mountain and purple skies? Have I left a piece of my heart with the crying children living at the trash dumps and wilted rivers of Honduras? I am promising that yes. I will leave a piece of my heart with each step and create a new image made perfectly in His Glory.  My sister told me so. She is the wiser. Passing wisdom down, now we embrace in what we know of each other. Sister love is endless.  Leslie- for you too.

My Baby girl. Desert Ridge water play.
Bella baby. I knew you in my dreams.  You are your own person now.  We play. we read. you laugh. you yell. we eat. we run. you talk. you need. I can see how much you love your home. you smile when we arrive. I can tell how much you will roam. we've planted adventure in your stride.
My Bella baby. Mommy loves you so. And I don't need to tell you. You already know.

Angela and Olivia reading. Dora is her fav.
It was you and I once. My baby Angel, with big innocent eyes. Now it is you and her. My baby Olivia in your knowing arms.  Generation passes into generation. We grow into each other. Watered with love. Stretched with experience, and rooted in faith.  

Sleepy drive from Phoenix to Los Angeles (6hrs)
Traveling we are.  You look as though you know.  We took you to a calling far from here. Baby, you tied us into people lives. One smile at a time. Spanish speaking eyes. They told me. Buonita Bebe. Linda Bebe.
And that was enough. You tied me to their hearts and hurts and forever I will remember. How we traveled. Across economies. Across politics. Across equators. Across mountains.  You made me brave.
And sometimes we go back home. Where ever that maybe.

The six! Plus two

I know your names by heart. Remember times we laughed. build each memory. it is a tall tower. we lead each other distances. inspired one another to dream and venture.  we can be deep as waters, or simple as morning light.
friends. these are priceless.  true friends. never can be replaced. my heart aches when I cannot skip to you for a hug. all sit around and sing or laugh together.  be brave friends.  and we will always visit. be it here or there or anywhere...

Daddy and Livi

To be a Daddy. A strong tree that lifts and hold and roots.  Daddy. Livi says "Dada"  She leaps into his arms. She tests him. She laughs at his games.  We could not go far without you- Daddy. You are our ship and sail and wind.

Seal Beach Surfing

What is most missed? the water. the sea. the ocean crashes. the land that speaks back and is not silent in breeze or sun blaze.  the busy. the ties. the beach. we miss the land we know so well. the santa monica cliffs, the coast line, the malibu breeze, the pch drives, the tall towers of tress, the lush air and crisp wind, the flowers dancing with color, and all of you. our ties to each other.

Sienna and Olivia. Santa Monica beach

Well it has not been easy to leave all that we have called home. New York, Santa Monica, Honduras...
wherever we step foot together, we leave a mark. our roots reach wide and deep and I pray we bring life.  Some days I stare at the computer screen and images of Tegus Honduras pass me by.  I ache and love and hope.  Other days I drive along the roads of Phoenix thinking maybe I can stop by the Santa Monica bluffs for a stroll.  Nights I read and my mind wanders. Finds me in the city night of NYC skipping along wet streets crowded with taxi cabs and footsteps.
Music rocks my memory as beats take me back to each place I have called home.
And Phoenix sways me to sleep. Promises sweet dreams. Thick air covers me like a blanket and the tall cactus points and waves towards heaven.  A home. We are with you. A home. We build together.