Sixteenth of April

Today will not soon be overstated.

Mr. DandelionVolta, Dante, ripped the Coachella webcasts of Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group from yesterday, so I've been watching their performance throughout the day. Cedric spits some "no condition is permanent" shit, so I immediately look into this and it seems to be an important reference.

Then I talked to Shelby for the first time since February 7. So distant and impenetrable, I find to be fitting words. I was a heap of a mess for a good hour or two. Talked to my brother on the phone, gathered immeasurably precise knowledge/advice/banter/experience/insight--overall profound, much needed offerings. Saved me again.

My uncle is standing in my room, looming over me as I wrap up this discussion with Chris. I naturally hurry because I've been neglecting his presence in our house for the past hour. Then truth be dropped like a fly--"I'm engaged."

How can I possibly respond? Handshake/hug, disbelief, questions, surprise, excitement, tears/another hug. This is the complete opposite of what I've known my entire life, and I don't mean this harshly, but not lightly either. I lived with this man for 16 years. He's always been too disjointed to form proper relationships in life, from whatever series of malfunctions that this "condition" stemmed from. Always so rough, rugged, eager to displease; "you bullied people your whole life to get your way," my mother said to him last week. "That's what she told me," of his girl, Brenda. So much can pass away. This makes me cry right this second! It's like the veil is lifted from over this huge sector of my personal life. My mother can have meaningful conversations with her older brother after 55 years, as a direct and unfortunate result of their mother's passing, and this sense of rebirth and this gleaming..... yeah, I'm happy. My mom saw them only two days ago when she learned this, and she said, "I've never seen two people just glowing so much."

So here's to happiness within family, a very basic, defining, and crucial piece of our lives.