The third week of February 2010 was school vacation week, and a "Pod" filled with items from my grandparents' house in Wisconsin had recently arrived in my parents' driveway. My father and uncle had finished dividing up the contents of their parents' home after my grandmother's death in October, and now it was time for us to decide what to do with all the stuff that had come east.

We spent at least one or two days of the vacation unloading the "Pod" and sorting through the contents. I expected the task to be difficult, but I was surprised that I actually enjoyed it. As hard as it was to say good-bye to that beloved house on Lake Mendota, it is a consolation that some items filled with happy memories came to our home, where we have joyfully integrated them into our family life.

Chair and loveseat from my grandparents home, new to our home. Photo by G, age 11. April 2010.

The other thing I remember about that time was walking back and forth in and out of the pod and wondering if I was pregnant. It was this happy little secret possibility that gave me a bounce in my step through all that moving. (And, indeed, a week and a half later, I took a test that showed that I was pregnant.) It was the first of many times that Halia's presence within brought a little lightness to those first months without my grandmother.

Day 13 of 31, 10 Cheshvan 5774