This week I am grateful for invitations to 10 course molecular gastronomy dinners, visiting new artsy places, clearing space & I am grateful to be born into my family.

My family is pretty complicated. If you're lucky, yours is too. There's so much that happened before "me". I find it interesting to hear about. Courtships, Marriages, Children, Divorces, Ultimatums, Money, Music, Falling-Outs, Art, School, Work. Life.

Took a trip to The Getty with my dad, on the way to go visit my grandma in LA. I'd never been the Getty before. It's kind of an oasis in the middle of LA. There's a lot of things to talk about during the two hour drive, but I really like the stories of my dad's view of things while he was growing up. The people around, the people who weren't around. A little insight into why things are the way they are. I like puzzles and the more pieces that show up, the more complete the picture is. Complicated to me isn't a negative… I just have a very large family which means more pieces to the puzzle, but also more people who are Family. It's impossible to put it all together because I will never know everything, but I collect those pieces and place them in their spots without thinking about never having them all. The pieces that fall into place do so when it's time.

My grandma took to her bed, I think, about 10 years ago. She's 90. A fact of life; getting old, I don't know so much about the "being bedridden" as a fact of life, but it was partly her choice. Her life was very interesting she should write a book - The problem is she has stories she won't tell anyone. She holds some puzzle pieces inside, otherwise known as "skeletons" - we all have them. Things you wouldn't tell most people because of the emotions/judgements that will surface. What happens to those pieces when you die? Are they even important?

My friend's dad passed away last weekend from complications from a spinal injury that happened 5 years ago. My coworker's mom died suddenly from a heart attack & another friend's grandfather passed this week. Law of Thirds. Who knows how long you have… There's still time to grab some more puzzle pieces & I'm grateful.

I Can. I Am. I Will.