“Roslyn – Contain yourself”

I come from a long line of women who live jubilantly and outwardly expressive. This past Monday, all the prayers, wishing and longed-for results catapulted me into one of my jubilant outbursts – thanks to ALL of you. The Writer had a CLEAN PET scan – joy of joys! However………

The Writer phoned me when I was on the floor doing nursing duties – I normally don’t answer my phone – but I gave myself the excuse that a call from her was important. She would know the results of her scan. She was hesitant, and my heart sank to my boots, but she got it out, “Mum, I got a clean scan – Dr Wonderful just told me!!” I laughed, I cried, I hugged everybody around me, I was saying over and over again, “She has a CLEAN scan” Prayers of thanks, fast, then the “Clean scan” mantra – all the nurses on the floor knew, all my patients knew – I was doing my happy dance.

My father, The Patriarch, was a stoic kind of guy and if something good happened, you could tell how happy he was if you could see his gold crown on his left incisor tooth – his big smile – no long-winded conversation, no frivolity, not much of anything. My mother, The Matriarch, realized this trait, and she would nudge him and make him laugh, but he would be still. She would spread the good news far and wide, and talk happily to him and be very animated.

My sister, Sunny and I used to catch a ride to school with The Patriarch on occasion, and as teenage girls, we sometimes lost our focus. He was punctual to a fault, and we knew if we wanted to go with him he would suddenly decide to depart without saying anything. One day we made fun of him and did a kind of chicken dance, and saying “Woop-Woop” – ever after, our family would say “Woop-Woop” meaning they were going to leave and a little dance would ensue!!

I went to a very small high school, and was well-known to all the nuns. I enjoyed a lot of sports and school activities and not being a star at anything, I celebrated joyfully any small accomplishment. I still have Sister Mary Ursula’s voice ringing in my ears, saying, “Roslyn, have some decorum, contain yourself”. We were Catholic school girls in the 70’s – my outbursts would have been very minor – in school uniform!!

Chief Sister has instituted a regular dance party with Maren and Greta – it may have started when they were in car seats and she is blasting “Lion King” and they are all singing and dancing in the car in seat belts! Chief Sister and Baby Sister made one memorable trip to Iowa to see The Writer around Halloween and Baby Sister decorated the inside of the car with Halloween stuff, and they called me singing camp songs and doing hand jives while they were driving.

With age and life experiences, I look for joy in every day, and find it – somewhere, somehow – but then there are days I can’t “contain myself”

“Alleluia”