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our girl's first words were a hummed tune

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Toronto, 2013.07.28

I think The Girl is back to normal. Today we were at the beach, and as I was holding her I realized that she was humming a little tune. The tune bounced around in my head and I made the connection: it was the same "Bird of Prey" song that I sing while holding her aloft by her legs while she balances herself. So I did that, and she wore a huge grin and even giggled a bit, the first time I've heard her do that. It was a joy to see her with the sun on her face and the wind in her hair and smiling so!

rand()m quote

Meaning is not something you stumble across, like the answer to a riddle or the prize in a treasure hunt. Meaning is something you build into your life. You build it out of your own past, out of your affections and loyalties, out of the experience of humankind as it is passed on to you, out of your own talent and understanding, out of the things you believe in, out of the things and people you love, out of the values for which you are willing to sacrifice something. The ingredients are there. You are the only one who can put them together into that unique pattern that will be your life. Let it be a life that has dignity and meaning for you. If it does, then the particular balance of success or failure is of less account.

—John Gardner