I have always loved reading but last year after I was diagnosed with ALS I started reading voraciously. Everything I could get my hands on. My standard fare of courtroom drama, police procedurals and suspenseful murder mysteries suddenly seemed a little too real. Dealing with a terminal illness was enough reality thank-you-very-much. That is when I came across Laurell K. Hamilton. I have her Anita Blake (necromancer, vampire hunter) and Merry Gentry (fairy princess) series to thank for my immersion in the wonderful world of urban fantasy and paranormal romance fiction.

For those of you who are as unenlightened as I was about these genres, let me enlighten you. First, these are my own definitions culled from various sources. I have no doubt not everyone will agree with me, but that’s ok because apparently everyone doesn’t agree with the sources I found either! Second, most of the books I read can easily fit into either genre, or more specifically, sub-genres. Urban fantasy being a sub-genre of Fantasy, and paranormal romance being a sub-genre of Romance. Third, I never thought I would be touting fantasy or romance as something worth reading. Yes, it is true, I was a reading snob. I found though that many of these books are as thought provoking, intricate and well written as any other books I have ever read. In my opinion, a good read is a good read, regardless of the subject matter. Therefore, here we go . . .
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Last night I became a grandma again. Evie Alexandra, 7 lbs. 7 oz. I don’t think it’s possible for a mother to hear about the birth of a child without thinking about the birth of her own. You remember the work, the struggle, the fight to birth the child, but you don’t remember the pain. You remember there was pain, a lot of pain, but you can’t remember how it felt. You only remember that in the end, when you counted tiny fingers and toes, when you gently stroked the sweet face, when you marveled that this perfect little person came from inside you, that the pain seemed such a small thing.

Life is a constant struggle – giving life, awakening to life, living life, holding onto life – all of it is an often painful struggle, but one that always feels good to win. When a woman becomes pregnant. When a child opens her eyes in the light of this world. When a family grows. When a sick person awakes for yet another morning. Each feels so good, so complete.

I’m on the tail-end of life’s cycle because of the ALS. I’m often angry about that because I love life, and I was hoping to outlive my grandma who was in her mid-90’s. I won’t even be old, only in my 50’s when I die. I want to be alive forever to watch my grandchildren and their grandchildren grow and enthusiastically live their lives into old age. How I love watching them grow and change and learn! Today I am not angry; instead, I am full of sweet thoughts of my grandchildren - Abbi and Elias and now, Evie.

Welcome to the world, Evie Alexandra. Embrace your life.

Have you ever been in a situation, you and someone else across the desk from each other, when the other person says something so stupid it takes all your self–control to keep from going across the desk, ripping their arm off and beating them with it until you get tired? All right, so maybe your fantasies of addressing stupidity aren’t so graphic. I know you have had them though.

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