Hi, folks, it's me, April! I just arrived in Manitoba this morning, and after I posted the "pets" letter, I realized I probably caused some confusion, since I wrote it a couple of days ago when I was still in Milbo, but with everything going on, I forgot to post it. And when I put it up today, I forgot to put in an update. I hope that means people won't think I inherited Mom's [lack of] proofreading skills!
So, I'm a high-school grad. I was a bit sad, since Mike and Uncle Phil were the only family members there. Classmates of mine had family members who flew in from all over the place, and I got so tired of explaining where everyone was, I just ended up avoiding people.
I was about to change my ticket so I could be with Gramps for the time he still has, but when he heard me telling this to Iris, he banged his hand on the rail of his bed to get my attention, and then used his picture board to tell me I had to go. He pointed at a picture of Mom and did that "twirling a finger" gesture by his ear to say "crazy."
One thing that's been good has been getting to know Claire a bit. It's kind of hard to believe she's got Mom's DNA--well, except for the physical resemblance. She's incredibly balanced. On the other hand, I've got Mom's DNA in me, too, which is something that keeps me awake at night sometimes. Who knows whether there's some genetic component to what's going wrong with Mom?
I'm worried about Liz. Anthony has figured out that James is probably not his biological son. Looks as though Warren Blackwood's probably the dad. It's likely that Liz and Anthony are already headed to splitsville. Liz has no job prospects right now, that I know of, and of course she's got a teeny-tiny baby. Aunt Bev said that Liz is welcome to come stay at the farm while she sorts out her life, but for some reason, Liz seems to feel no connection to that branch of our family.
When I saw Dee's letter and read the part about Merrie loving her chickens enough to stop eating poultry, I IM'ed Dee and wrote, "That's so cool about Merrie and the chickies! Next, she'll love them enough to not steal their eggs!" Dee was like, "Back off, you vegan freak!" Of course she added a ":)" to take the edge off.
Speaking of Dee, she and Mike are dealing with the whole "autism" label. Mike has started doing some research into how the definition and diagnostic criteria have changed over time, admitting that he hopes he'll find proof that Robin's diagnosis was made in error.
Well, I'm going to take Tawny (the horse who adopts me every summer) out for a little jaunt before it's time to get on my videoconference with Gramps and Iris, Mike, Dee, Merrie, Robin, and Liz.
Talk to you in August!
April
howtheduck's "Pets" letter had April writing from Milborough, but forworse's Claire and dreadedcandiru2's Liz both had her in Manitoba, so I decided to resolve the discrepancy by having the "pets" letter prewritten and then posted later.