Perestroika

perestroika  (ˌpɛrəˈstrɔɪkə)
— n
	the policy of reconstructing the economy, etc, of the formerSoviet Union under the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev
[C20: Russian, literally: reconstruction 'Tis the season of perestroika. I'd forgotten that word, as I have so many other things that transpired during the 90's as I attempted to raise myself and three young boys.  It was rumored that Gorbachev was the Antichrist solely based on the port-wine stain on his forehead, and for that hysterical reasoning and other hysterical incidents that occurred while I grew up with my little boys, perestroika fell to the wayside in my vocabulary until I started playing Words with Friends with my father-in-love, who has some sort of vocab genie in a bottle. :-D But I digress. Reconstruction after devastation and struggle and pain remains the theme of the day. Our oldest Younglings, Courtney and Randall, are each taking a different approach to life than the angry staggering they've each clung to tightly for most of their lives. Not so much their doing, simply that her daddy and his mommy were both in angry staggering households whilst they were in their formative years, and so they got that way by default. Recent events have softened each of their hearts, and while these two have The Most Biting Wit of any we know, we are proud of both of them and the success they are meeting since they each let the Light into their souls. Craig and Brett aren't reconstructing so much as continuing to build on the solid foundations they've laid for themselves through their hard work and dedication to success, but in a way they are. Their childhood finished, concluded last weekend with Brett's graduation, they can now choose their inter-family relationships and aren't bound by duty to anyone but God and themselves. Our clan in River City also is in perestroika. Carianne has raised her brothers and sisters for her parents, while Jon has been away and their mother has searched for herself while being present physically. (I did that, too, when Brett was in kindergarten, so no aspersions on her character, just observation of fact.) Now, with the twins' last year of school looming, she can begin to pursue her own goals.  Samantha is shifting from work to career in teaching. Hope is headed to San Diego to start school and Life once again. Jack and Laura are adjusting to their daddy's regular interaction in their life after never having it at all.  Jonathan is also in perestroika...emerging from the dust and devastation of living with an individual who could clearly be the individual in the Scripture, "but first remove the log from thine own eye before attempting to remove the splinter from another". That 'relationship' usurped all of his energy. All. Parental, personal, financial, spiritual. After spending an hour with us the other day, for the first time, his oldest daughter remarked that she'd never seen her daddy so happy, relaxed, and social. That 'relationship' caused him to have to work overseas for the last ten years, to support his teenagers -- especially the twins, with whom he has yet to construct a solid, Real, relationship. Yesterday we went through his storage unit and I came across countless accolades of his years in the USAF. Countless. I've always been proud of his service to his country, but getting a visual on his dedication increased my pride -- juxtaposed against the depravity of the 'home' that he extricated himself from two years ago -- made me glad he is in my life now, on so many levels. I am in the perestroika process as well, across my entire existence. I've finally come home to the Church, and I no longer feel guilty about who I am and how I live, as I now fully understand that the Church was built upon the love of Christ but led by people who were just as dumb, earnest, and doggedly passionate as me, just as much in love with Jesus as I am. I now have a rather large family who loves me unconditionally. None of them are my blood relatives, except for my mom and my boys, but they are my family and they love me for me, not for what they think I should be to make them comfortable. My own dear dad is laid to rest, physically, and emotionally, for all time. I am released from mandated, active parenting by the power of the diploma handed to young Master Brett last weekend. I'm headed to my Spa-Hospital in a week or so to finally, finally, resolve the after-effects of StupidCancer on my body. When I'm all healed up, it will be time for Brett to head off to college, and a new level of relationship with the kid who has been my comfort, my songbird, my stabilizer, for 18 years. (I was a little perturbed at the news of the third baby as I gazed at the two pint-sized idiots pummeling each other in the living room, back in 1993, but Brett has been a lifesaver for me in ways he will never understand. Holding a snuggly baby was just the beginning.) Perestroika. An excellent word to win points at Words with Friends, and an excellent concept for those of us who have survived cancer, war, abandonment, and needy, greedy, people. perestroika  (ˌpɛrəˈstrɔɪkə)    [C20: Russian, literally: reconstruction