Dagwood. Grilled Cheese. Peanut Butter and Jelly. Marliss.

Dagwood.  Grilled cheese. Peanut butter and jelly.  Marliss.

What do all these things have in common?  They are sandwiches.  Yes, I am a sandwich.  I am the middle between my twin 9 year old daughters and my 81 year old mother.

My father passed away 3 weeks ago tonight.  It was always the plan for my parents to move to AL and live with us.  We had designed the floor plan to accommodate a place for them in our new home - the new home that hasn't been started yet (but will in about 10 days).   After my Dad passed, we went ahead and brought Mom back to AL with us.  There was no reason for her to stay in their big house in CO by herself.  So, taking FULL ADVANTAGE of Southwest Airlines "two suitcases for free per flyer" offer, we packed lots of Mom's stuff and schlepped it all to AL.  Truly, I have no idea what we really packed, because packing with eyes swollen with sadness is not advised.  But luckily, most everything she needed for the time being somehow made it into the suitcases.  Mom would be moving into our rental, which looks like a dorm room with just the bare necessities for Ken, me and the girls, because all our stuff is in storage and new stuff would be purchased for the new house - which is many months in the future.

Mom's arrival coincided with the girls starting school.  At a new school.  With no one they know.
Funny enough, Mom's arrival to Auburn also coincided with the onslaught of university students coming back after summer break.  Our trips to Target and Walmart required 2 carts - one with hangars, plastic chests of drawers, shampoo, pillows, comforters and a little bedside lamp for Mom and,  the other one with markers, notebooks, papers, scissors, pencils, backpacks, lunch boxes for the girls.  And, I was sandwiched in the middle.

As a sandwich, I am trying to help the girls get organized, settle into the school, dance, gymnastics, and the homework routine.  I am also trying to make my Mom feel comfortable without her life partner of almost 58 years.  She had never even been to Auburn, yet here she is dropped into the complete unknown.  She was used to going to Curves 3 times a week, however, there isn't one here.  She had great neighbors who kept their eye on her and Dad.  She had a niece that lived up the road.  And, she had lived in Pueblo her entire life.  Here in Auburn, she has her granddaughters and son-in-law.  Oh, and she brought her dog.  And, she has her daughter, who doesn't have any friends here either.

Everyone who knows me, knows that the kitchen is not my place of comfort.  I don't cook.  But, a sandwich is something that I can make.  As a sandwich some days it's like being a Dagwood - lots of all kinds of things piled SO HIGH and SO BIG you can't get your mouth around it.  Some days, it's like Grilled Cheese, where everything nicely melts together and all is good.  And some days, it's like Peanut Butter and Jelly, salty, sticky, and crunchy mixed with some sweet.  But in the end, we all have to stick together on the plate of life.  We all need each other because Peanut Butter and Jelly without bread would just be weird.  However, it WOULD be great to have a side dish of some new friends for us all!