{{{Anne}}} Will looking at all the pictures of the pretty tiaras cheer you up? (A little?)

{{{WindSparrow}}} What a hard thing to have to do. But you sound like you've already started protecting yourself, and your emotional resources, from her.

{{{Anne}}}

{{{WindSparrow}}}

Anne, that sucks.

WindSparrow, while it would suck to lose such precious personal items, it sounds like there isn't a very good chance you'll get them back. As for your mom. *sigh* I hate to say walk away completely but it sounds like you're moving on to a healthier emotional place without her. By not allowing her to suck your soul, you've found some peace. And she may, in her own way, understand this. Or not. Either way it sounds like she's making her own decision to not talk to you.

If it were me, I'd keep the forward momentum. I think you could keep yourself sane while leaving the door to the relationship open just a crack. You never know when she might come to the realization that you're her daughter and that she shouldn't throw that away.

As far as the few important things, where does she live? (you can backchannel that if you wish) Maybe one of us could help you nab the cradle or something.

She lives in Cleveland, Ohio, on the west side. I'm not sure how anyone else would be able to help, she doesn't answer the phone, so I can't call her and say, "some of my friends are coming, please let them have my cradle". Although the idea of Buffista Black Ops team going in is making me smile, I'd advise wearing haz-mat suits, and bring drugged doggie treats for their "Oh, we're going to have to move to an appartment soon, let's get a _big_ dog" very large dog.

And yeah, Trudy, it doesn't have to be forever. I have given Daniel's addresss and phone number to all of my sibs, so if she calls here to find I'm gone, then calls them, they can give the info to her.

/me basks in the kindness and love here

{{{Windsparrow}}}

Hang out with us a bit and tell us the last thing you knit.

Problem is, I haven't been knitting anything lately.

But, I do get my hair cut tomorrow.

Well, you cheered me up, at least. Make sure wear that good lipstick tomorrow too.

Windsparrow, you want to send me her address and/or phone number? I'm on Cleveland's west side. I could at least see what I could see.

{{{Anne}}} I'm sorry. I've been wracking my brain trying to think of gender bending things I want to see in a fic but my brain refuses to wrack.

{{{Anne}}}

{{{WindSparrow}}}

We go back to Seattle tomorrow afternoon. It's been a good visit for the most part, though Mom and I did manage to bicker a bit toward the very end. Over Japanese war crimes committed in WWII (I'm not denying they happened, nor that they were horrible; it just doesn't alter my broadly positive opinion of present-day Japan--if I hated every country that had ever committed a war crime, I don't think I'd have any countries left to like.) and whether Thomas Jefferson was too much of a Francophile. We're a very strange family.

Mom and Dad deliberately chose not to call and ask about his test results--they'll find out next week when he goes in for another round of chemo. I think they figured that if there's bad news, they want to deal with it on their own, and have all their West Coast kids back on our own turf before we have to deal with it. So I still don't know anything.

{{Anne}} That's a bummer. I find the brains of companies that hire good temps and then dump then totally incomprehensible.

{{WindSparrow}} How much longer is you mother in the house? Could you write her a letter and let her know that someone will be coming by to pick up some stuff? I'm sad to think you'll have to do without your treasures. The same thing happened with my daughter and it always burned my gut that her aunt and uncle were so cheap, not only did they not send her stuff to her, but they sold it all in a garage sale.