ear Readers,

I apologize for my absence. Firstly, some good Stuff: the Haiku Kung Fu Champion is Cheri! Congrats to her, and thanks to all of you for playing.

Secondly, some very sad Stuff: I just returned from an eleven day surprise trip to San Diego. My sister, who was six and a half months pregnant, lost her baby in a mysterious way- her baby's little heart just randomly stopped beating. It was an emotional weekend, as my sister had to be induced into labor and deliver her baby.  Just heartbreaking. Apparently this happens more frequently than most people realize, and medically the doctors can't usually find a reason for it. The doctor said that occasionally there is something like a knot in the cord but usually, it's just this totally mysterious thing that happens, and they just don't have any answers for it. I was surprised to hear that.  It's just so sad, and seems so wrong and unfair. My sister was so happy to be pregnant and was so healthy, as was the baby. It makes no sense. We will all miss the chance to see little Sofia grow, and are hopeful that maybe her spirit will return when my sister is ready to try again. Any prayers for Sarah and her husband Tony will be appreciated. They need all the help they can get to make it through their grief and be ready to try again.

UPDATE: Almost exactly a year after my sister lost little Sofia, she and her husband were blessed with Adrien Victor Benelli. Isn't my nephew adorable?! Congrats to Sarah & Tony! 

Thirdly, some more sad and scary Stuff: Valena, a dear friend of mine gave birth to her baby girl, Olive, just a few days before my sister lost little Sofia, and little Olive is now fighting for her life. She was born full term, and thought to be totally healthy, when at the last minute just before Valena and hubby John were about to take her home, a nurse had a funny feeling and wanted to give Olive a quick ultrasound. Turns out she found bleeding in Olive's brain, and they discovered that she was having these strange invisible seizures. Olive stopped breathing in Valena's arms at one point, and has been in the NICU ever since. The doctors have found no reasons for any of this- Olive is otherwise healthy. They are hopeful for Olive's full recovery, but it has been pretty taxing on Valena and John, and on Monday, Olive's two week birthday, they just recieved word that Olive will need to have some sort of tube dealy put in her head to drain some of the fluid out. This is sad because Valena had been told that Olive was doing great and may be able to go home on Friday. Now she's about to get another round of MRI's CT scans and the like. I can't imagine how frustrating the waiting and wondering is for them. My heart just aches to think of it.

Valena & John and Baby Olive need all the prayers  they can get at the moment. They are the sweetest family, and have already had their share of medical hardships, as Valena has been battling Lupus since she was nineteen. Get strong, little Olive!

UPDATE: A year later, here is Valena & John's gorgeous little Olive: 
In my time away, I will also be writing as much as I can. It is a goal of mine to finish a manuscript this year and submit to/ get accepted by an agent or publisher before the year is out. I find that I spend more time messing about on this blog than I do writing, and that ratio needs to change if I am to accomplish this goal.

I appreciate you all, and thank you for sticking with me on this little journey so far. I'll be back soon, and if you should ever care to get in touch, just leave me a comment or send me an email at 88words (at) gmail.com. I will respond immediately.

Cheers, Hugs, and Happy Almost Spring!