Thanksgiving 2010 –

much to be thankful for...

right?

My mother

takes our hands

looks deadly serious.

“We've decided,”

she says, the royal we,

“to let the house go.”

I have to admit

it's not a huge surprise

but is my heart breaking?

Money has been

the bane of my existence

for as long as I can remember

I don't let her

see me cry.

February 2011 –

there's an official-looking

notice on the counter

Foreclosure,

it says, the house goes to the bank

The words blur beneath my tears.

We start the packing,

start the fighting,

start the stressing.

Sister breaks

a butter dish

loudest screaming I've ever heard.

But miraculously

and very very slowly

we settle in.

I actually start

calling the new place

home.