“You have a hole in your heart.”
This was a comeuppance; my heart and I had been together for 73 years, with me smugly assuming it was in one piece. But not to worry, said the doctor: this kind of hole (in doctorspeak, a PFO) happens to lots of people around the time they’re born and it is no big deal. My friend Bill, who knows about such things, explained it as “vagaries in gestation.”
Many years ago, my otherwise staid and sensible Aunt Jean paid actual money for some kind of documents about the O’Hern family history. Suddenly we had a crest and a motto. I thought the O’Hern motto was “Pass the pierogi.” Meanwhile, my mother was hard at work on the Mauck side, where the motto surely should have been “In ironing we trust.”
So, dear reader, when my friend Bill explained the PFOs as “vagaries in gestation,” I thought A) what a wonderful-sounding phrase, B) boy, does that explain my family, and — thus — C) hey, our true family motto!
As I mentioned recently, autumn is a good time for beginnings and I’m now beginning — and returning to — an occasional blog reflection on family and on me, vagaries all. My blog will then be part “Connections” and part “Vagaries.” Oddments indeed.
As ever, in search of story —
October 9, 2016 at 11:36 am
Well, at least it isn’t a body organ you can’t live without. 🙂 I think in this chapter of life, the realization that all of our organs have worked well for many years is always humbling. Here’s to your heart pumping you right into many, many more good years. 🙂 That wall of framed photos reminds me of my beloved mother-in-law who had groupings of each family together arranged by age. It was a sight to behold especially since she had nine living children at the time. Happy Sunday. 🙂
October 9, 2016 at 7:37 pm
Happy Sunday to you, too! It’s on the waning side, but I do hope yours was as beautiful as ours — it’s been a glorious weekend! And thanks for the laugh. Indeed it is time to be awed by the parts of us that have lasted so long.
That wall of family pictures must have been grand. I remember your post not too long ago about your in-laws and how much they meant to you. Nine children. Wow. That’s a lot of wall.
Pingback: Vagaries: October 11.16 | Oddments
Pingback: Vagaries in Gestation: November 28.16 | Oddments
Pingback: Vagaries in Gestation: December 6.16 | Oddments
Pingback: Vagaries in Gestation: On Being Linear, Part l, 3.12.17 | Oddments
Pingback: Vagaries in Gestation: On Being Linear, Part ll, 3.13.17 | Oddments
Pingback: Vagaries in Gestation: On Being Linear, Part lll, March 15.17 | Oddments
Pingback: Vagaries in Gestation: On Being Linear, Part lV, March 16.17 | Oddments
Pingback: Vagaries in Gestation: On Being Linear, Part V, April 5.17 | Oddments
Pingback: Vagaries in Gestation: November 14.18 | Oddments
Pingback: Vagaries in Gestation: December 21.18 | Oddments