At Andrew and Alex’s engagement party a few years ago they handed out small pieces of paper that had sayings on them — sort of like fortune cookie fortunes. We chose one without seeing the words. Mine was perfect and I suspect that it was written with me in mind. Alex seemed very happy that I received it.

It says:

“I know it’s nagging you, but you should finish that project you started. In the struggle there is joy.”

If you know me it won’t come as a surprise that the project mentioned in the fortune is still a work in progress — I’m still struggling to sort through all the bits and pieces of my mom’s life that I brought back to Bethesda.

I’m getting there — I mostly only have photos left, but there are a few other things I need to decide what to do with.

I’m not sure the struggle is joyful, but when I finish small parts of the project I do feel a bit of joy.

And while this small piece of paper is not part of my mom’s things, it is adjacent to it and I’ve been meaning to blog about it for three-and-a-half years.