I am famous for picking things up with a passion and dropping them just as quickly.  The carcasses of my various hobbies and interests line the halls of my memory; crewel embroidery, needlepoint, smocking, rose gardening, landscape painting, jewelry, furniture refinishing, calligraphy….just as the oil portraits of ancestors hang on the halls of English manor houses.

When I began this blog one year ago I thought it would be like any other blog.  My sisters, one or two of my children and handful of very close friends might check in from time to time, but it would otherwise be an obscure URL on the increasingly crowded world wide web.  What did I know?

I’ve “met” new friends who are beyond dear to me for their loyalty and support.  Those sisters and children and friends are more faithful readers than I expected them to be.  And in writing about the murder of a high school classmate in 1975, I learned I wasn’t the only one who tossed and turned for 34 years over a life that ended too soon.  This blog is a source of catharsis, of community and of hope.  I am reminded that everything is possible, still.

I’ve been busy of late; providing image consulting for a political candidate, writing content for other web sites and enjoying the company of my first-born child, my only daughter who moved home after a year and a half on the west coast.  Now at 23, Natalie is an extraordinary young woman who I enjoy more than I thought any mother could enjoy any child.  We laugh a connected and knowing laugh that is difficult to stop and I wonder sometimes how I created this splendid human being.

I overheard Natalie tell a friend on the phone today that we’ve been doing everything together and she’s having a great time of it.  Imagine.  A young woman boasting that she enjoys time with her mother.  How lucky we are.  Natalie reminded me we had a rough patch several years ago when she was a teenager, but I can  honestly say I didn’t see it.  I knew she wanted total independence back then, far more independence than she could handle or would be good for her, and in ignoring her anger about that, I saw it as nothing unusual.

So my apologies for neglecting my blogging lately.  I hope you understand.  Maureengreencny.com is not just another hobby I picked up and put down.  Unlike the jewelry supplies and the acrylic paint which sit on shelving in the basement, my computer is always close by.  I’ll do better to stay in touch.