Family Secret

If you know me, you know my mom's been sick for a long time. The fact that she's alive is really honestly a daily blessing. Part of her recovery came when she visited a health clinic for 3 weeks, where she worked on her physical and mental well-being. When she returned, she had this zen-ness about her that was enviable. That and she was vegan. And skinny. It was amazing. 

So one night we went out to dinner in Austin at Casa de Luz with my brother and my cousin and we sat down in this little outdoor pagoda and she told us a story.

When she was at the health clinic, she had the opportunity to be treated by the most educated, talented doctors with the most state-of-the-art equipment. One such doctor was a therapist, a graduate of Harvard. During a session, she talked about her life, her joys, her despairs, about relationships that had really pissed her off and things that had not gone her way. When she was done, she sat back, and the doctor looked at her with his hands crossed and said, "Do you know what I do when things get to be too much?" My mother leaned in, hanging on his every word. "I take my hands like this, and I pretend like I'm drawing a bubble around it and then I flick it and say..." She leaned closer.

And Mr. Harvard Educated said, "F*#@ it."

I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my life.