Meredith Carson... Across the Pond and Back Again...

I don't exactly know where to begin. Sometimes I feel compelled to state the obvious.  Bear with me.  I am a little slow, and "the obvious" is not always so obvious to me. I live with three children.  All of them are very comfortable leaning on, nuzzling into, and generally treating my body like a beanbag chair.  Most children are like that.  My daughters think nothing of climbing into my bed and burrowing into my flesh as though I were a favorite cushion.  There is great security in that kind of physical intimacy.  Children know this.  We are all born knowing this, but at some point we forget.  We grow up.  We become independent.  We stop snuggling close to our mamas and friends. (At least most of us do.)  Not too long ago my eldest daughter told me, "Mom, I just cannot even imagine you being a kid.  You are just SO boring and grown up."  I tried not to take offense.  I am her mother, after all,...

The planets and the stars were aligned last week and when I was home in North Carolina for a quick, dizzying visit, so was my childhood friend Kirk "Twinkletoes" Sprinkles.  I don't have enough friends who randomly burst into song at the grocery store, and I didn't realize how much I missed the fun that he and I used to have.  It was as though no time had passed when we saw each other again after many years... except for the fact that I now have three children, lots of stretch marks and a few wrinkles. This is what happened when I remembered that my digital camera has a video function.  I am only sorry that we ran out of memory space before the climactic conclusion of our song... for the children. Of course I also spent lots of time visiting with family and introducing everyone to the newest little Carson... Mimi and her grand-girls In my grandparents' front yard in Jamestown In bed, eating cookies... just like old times.  Thank You for Being a Friend! As...