Jana Remy
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Jana Remy

  • Writing
    • Disability
    • Making History
    • Digital Humanities
      • dayofDH
    • Canoeing
    • Creative Nonfiction & Essays
    • Feminism
    • Bibliographies
      • Pacific Worlds Bibliography
    • Social Media
      • Mentions/Links
  • Scholarship
    • Awards/Fellowships
    • Conferences & Invited Talks
    • Collaboration
    • Workshops
    • Conference Planning
    • Technical Skills
  • Teaching
    • Blogposts About Teaching
Daily Archives

October 21, 2008

deep thoughts

doing the dishes

When I was at my sickest with my cancer treatments, I spent a lot of time just sitting on the couch watching my Mom do her daily work. It was the first time in my life that I realized how many hours she invested in keeping our home running smoothly. Specifically, I was shocked at how many times each day I watched her load and unload the dishwasher. What a singularly boring and repetitive task. I realized that she had no fondness for washing dishes but yet I saw her doing this same task constantly, with other family members rarely joining in.

After awhile I remember wishing that I could help her. It became a goal of mine to someday become strong enough that I could help my Mom with those awful dishes.

Of course, by the time I felt well again, I was preoccupied with my own dramas and I didn’t lend a hand with the dishes nearly as often as I should have. But now when I have tasks in front of me–like dishwashing or other mundanities at work, school, etc., I often think of those many times that I watched Mom loading and unloading those dishes. And sometimes that helps me to remember that life is a lot about washing the dishes–those tasks that one doesn’t particularly like, but that need to be done on a regular basis anyways. And hopefully the dishwashing is sometimes made just a bit easier by the great dinner parties that come beforehand. Or by having some friends join in the work.
:)

October 21, 2008
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About Me

About Me

Hi there friend, and welcome to my blog. I started writing on the internet two decades ago. Since then I've started and finished a PhD program, left the Mormon church and became a Quaker, got divorced, remarried, found full-time work in academia, took up rock climbing and outrigger canoeing, and traveled across the globe (China! Belgium! Italy! Chicago! Montana! Portland! Gettysburg! and oh-so-many points in-between). This blog is eclectic and random--it has poetry and cooking and books. And cats. And flowers. And the ocean (my ocean). But in that sense it's a good reflection of me and my wide-ranging, far-reaching, magpie curiosity.

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