Happy birthay, Jilli! You your own self are a huge gift to all the rest of us; in addition to birthday wishes to you, I'm sending love and "Well done you!" vibes to your dad and your mom's spirit for bringing you into the world. They did splendidly, truly.
Lots of vibes to Bartleby and comfort to bonny.
And all my good thoughts ever to Maria. So very, deeply good to see your pixels.
ION, not sure if I should post this in Press, but I just heard about this group and they seem like a good site to bookmark: Take Them A Meal, basically a crisis-related cat-herding website. If someone you know is having surgery or on bed rest or bereaved and immobilized with grief, it's an easy way to coordinate making sure they get fed (and get food they can actually eat). Someone just sent me a link on my aunt's behalf -- she just had back surgery, and her church group used the website to set up a regular schedule for the month she'll be home but in bed. You can check for dietary restrictions, find out which meals still need a volunteer, get directions to the house or (if you're too harried or too far away) just make a donation and have the website order and deliver a meal. Freaking genius.