grace number 59
today i am most grateful to be able to celebrate my mom and my niece's birthday with my entire family this afternoon.

one of the most confusing, unanswered situations in my life was whether or not i should have left virginia beach/norfolk to move back home to good old RI. MA. (or rima as my virginian friends call it, because they got sick and tired of hearing me say ummm, massachusetts, well, no rhode island. well, kind of both." etc. when people asked me where i was from). i moved down to virginia right after i got my bachelors degree. i didn't live there long, but i changed more there than i would have ever believed. i liked the "erin" i was there, more than any other "erin" i have ever been. i moved back here for no reason, other than not being sure whether to stay or leave once my roommates decided to move.

but irregardless to whether or not i made the right decision. i am here now. this is where i live and i've come a long way from the indecisive person who left va.

and one thing i have here, that i didn't have there is my family. in virginia, my friends were truly my family. they were my everything. but my real family still existed. and they existed up north. life went on without me. things changed, people changed.

and if i were still living in virginia, i would never have the chance to watch my niece grow up, or meet my nephew the day he was born. i wouldn't be here with my mom. a woman who i love dearly. shoot, i wouldn't have been able to watch her change and grow either.

but today was a beautiful day. today i got to celebrate the lives of my wonderful mother and niece. (and eat some awesome antipasto from giammalvos- who knows how to spell that- yummmmmmmy) and none of this would be possible if i were still there.

so, thank you universe for allowing me to be here.