Comments for Elizabeth O'Brien Blog http://blog.elizobrien.com Elizabeth O'Brien, M.A., LPC Tue, 22 Jun 2010 22:54:34 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Comment on Launching Ourselves by Jessica Robertson http://blog.elizobrien.com/?p=5&cpage=1#comment-2286 Jessica Robertson Tue, 22 Jun 2010 22:54:34 +0000 http://blog.elizobrien.com/?p=5#comment-2286 I've tried before to describe Jesse, Owen, and Sam to friends who ask who "those kids" are in the picture frame I keep on my grandfather's desk. I tell anecdotes of our own Adventures in Babysitting, hoping that will fill out the rich tapestry that I store in my mind. I've never quite articulated them like you have above. They are certainly not "kids" anymore. In my own egocentric phase of my 20's I missed out on seeing them launch out on their own paths. I'm glad to read a piece of the experience here. They are truly amazing kids. I hope I am half the parent you are, Elizabeth. Jess I’ve tried before to describe Jesse, Owen, and Sam to friends who ask who “those kids” are in the picture frame I keep on my grandfather’s desk. I tell anecdotes of our own Adventures in Babysitting, hoping that will fill out the rich tapestry that I store in my mind. I’ve never quite articulated them like you have above. They are certainly not “kids” anymore. In my own egocentric phase of my 20′s I missed out on seeing them launch out on their own paths. I’m glad to read a piece of the experience here. They are truly amazing kids. I hope I am half the parent you are, Elizabeth.

Jess

]]> Comment on Dogs by Jessica Robertson http://blog.elizobrien.com/?p=11&cpage=1#comment-2285 Jessica Robertson Tue, 22 Jun 2010 22:44:27 +0000 http://blog.elizobrien.com/?p=11#comment-2285 I teared up, Elizabeth. Thank God Jaime pulled through. I, too wish I could have a puppy. I've had at least one with me throughout my life, but find myself in the same predicament as you were in NY: No time, no space for the pup. I can't wait for the day I'll get to have my own wet nosed, furry companion to love unrelentingly. I just can't believe what lengths the vet went to in order to save Jaime's life. That is a special person who listened to their true calling. I don't know Jesse anymore. I don't know the man he's become. But every bit of that story reminds me of the sensitive, kind and thoughtful boy I remember with a full heart. Jess I teared up, Elizabeth. Thank God Jaime pulled through. I, too wish I could have a puppy. I’ve had at least one with me throughout my life, but find myself in the same predicament as you were in NY: No time, no space for the pup. I can’t wait for the day I’ll get to have my own wet nosed, furry companion to love unrelentingly. I just can’t believe what lengths the vet went to in order to save Jaime’s life. That is a special person who listened to their true calling. I don’t know Jesse anymore. I don’t know the man he’s become. But every bit of that story reminds me of the sensitive, kind and thoughtful boy I remember with a full heart.

Jess

]]> Comment on Dogs by non homeowner loan http://blog.elizobrien.com/?p=11&cpage=1#comment-2260 non homeowner loan Sat, 19 Jun 2010 16:16:26 +0000 http://blog.elizobrien.com/?p=11#comment-2260 Its wonderful stuff you’ve written up in here. Have been looking for reviews on this all around. Good work. Its wonderful stuff you’ve written up in here. Have been looking for reviews on this all around. Good work.

]]> Comment on Launching Ourselves by virginia klyce minervini http://blog.elizobrien.com/?p=5&cpage=1#comment-783 virginia klyce minervini Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:59:08 +0000 http://blog.elizobrien.com/?p=5#comment-783 Eebs: This must be you! I found a EO byline in smart money,remembered and wonder if that is your piece. Visiting with S-in-law,ellen, and sister,karen, in austin for a reunion wkend. Read your blog, so know some of your details. Ellen said she saw Debbie last week, and that your mom is fine and doing some travelling. I am headed home to see my mother for Thxgvg. I am living in CO with husband John and son # 3. Mer is in E. Tn and Fla. Karen is lving in TX. Brig is in Mphs. and Montana. You probably know some of this, from keeping up with hutch friends. ever get back to mphs? We're @ driskill on sat if you will be in town. Hope you continue to be well! varoom1162@aol.com Eebs: This must be you! I found a EO byline in smart money,remembered and wonder if that is your piece. Visiting with S-in-law,ellen, and sister,karen, in austin for a reunion wkend. Read your blog, so know some of your details. Ellen said she saw Debbie last week, and that your mom is fine and doing some travelling. I am headed home to see my mother for Thxgvg. I am living in CO with husband John and son # 3. Mer is in E. Tn and Fla. Karen is lving in TX. Brig is in Mphs. and Montana. You probably know some of this, from keeping up with hutch friends. ever get back to mphs? We’re @ driskill on sat if you will be in town. Hope you continue to be well! varoom1162@aol.com

]]> Comment on Failure to Launch by eliz http://blog.elizobrien.com/?p=47&cpage=1#comment-699 eliz Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:34:37 +0000 http://blog.elizobrien.com/?p=47#comment-699 Thanks, Rosemarie! So good to hear from you from time to time. Where is Raddy in college, and where does Kai go to high school? How is big Rad? And you are still a magazine editor? I would love to see you one day. Cheers! E Thanks, Rosemarie! So good to hear from you from time to time. Where is Raddy in college, and where does Kai go to high school? How is big Rad? And you are still a magazine editor? I would love to see you one day.
Cheers! E

]]> Comment on Failure to Launch by Rosemarie R. http://blog.elizobrien.com/?p=47&cpage=1#comment-698 Rosemarie R. Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:40:20 +0000 http://blog.elizobrien.com/?p=47#comment-698 Somehow, Elizabeth, when I read your blog, I find answers to my own situation. Raddy is off at college, I seldom hear from him, but in his photos on Facebook he seems happy and social. Kai is a high school sophomore, and I see the empty nest looming--zooming towards me is more like it. I am definitely an over-involved parent, and I too am trying to loosen my death grip. The Emancipation Group sounds wonderful, just the thing for parents of children heading off to college, which means a never-ending supply of clients! I'm glad your family is doing well. I send much, much love and miss you always. Rosemarie R. Somehow, Elizabeth, when I read your blog, I find answers to my own situation. Raddy is off at college, I seldom hear from him, but in his photos on Facebook he seems happy and social. Kai is a high school sophomore, and I see the empty nest looming–zooming towards me is more like it. I am definitely an over-involved parent, and I too am trying to loosen my death grip. The Emancipation Group sounds wonderful, just the thing for parents of children heading off to college, which means a never-ending supply of clients! I’m glad your family is doing well. I send much, much love and miss you always. Rosemarie R.

]]> Comment on Dogs by Linda Masters http://blog.elizobrien.com/?p=11&cpage=1#comment-328 Linda Masters Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:41:02 +0000 http://blog.elizobrien.com/?p=11#comment-328 Loved reading your blog and your life with and without dogs. The photos are fabulous!!!! Talk to you soon. Linda Loved reading your blog and your life with and without dogs. The photos are fabulous!!!!

Talk to you soon.

Linda

]]> Comment on Launching Ourselves by Elizabeth Owen O'Brien http://blog.elizobrien.com/?p=5&cpage=1#comment-4 Elizabeth Owen O'Brien Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:37:57 +0000 http://blog.elizobrien.com/?p=5#comment-4 Rosemarie, What a wonderful surprise to get your message and hear your sweet voice again! I have missed you all these years and I think of you often. Of course, "Zachary's Wings" has a place of honor on our bookshelves. Did you ever happen to see "The Face of Texas," which Michael and I co-authored (he took the photos and I did the writing)? Check it out on Michael's website or on Amazon.com. It is a coffee table book of portraits and stories of Texans, both famous and "ordinary." Austin was a very soft landing after New York, but I will always miss the city—both Manhattan and Brooklyn. Life has sped by. Jesse is finishing business school in Fort Worth at TCU (Texas Christian University, a wonderful school), Owen is at the University of Texas Austin, living on her own; and Sam is a senior at Westlake High School, still playing soccer. He is sort of a mini-me of Michael. Texas is very much a world unto itself, and Austin is a liberal, Democratic oasis in the midst of the Bible Belt. Also a high-tech hub, university town, state capital, and music center. I like it very much and feel at home. Our suburban home backs up to a Greenbelt with canyons and creeks and trails. We have a Bichon Frise and a chocolate Lab puppy and they are my therapists and walking partners. In the meantime, I have started a small private practice as an LPC-I (Licensed Professional Counselor-Intern), working under the supervision of Dr. Sunny Lansdale at Treaty Oak Psychotherapy. It's a trip. I have a tiny, closet-sized office, but it's a start. Michael is struggling in photography—the world has changed—but he is persevering. How is big Rad? Is he still at the museum? And are you still editing and writing for magazines? Thanks so much for your gracious comments. If I come to New York sometime, you must make time to see me. Love ya, Elizabeth Rosemarie, What a wonderful surprise to get your message and hear your sweet voice again! I have missed you all these years and I think of you often. Of course, “Zachary’s Wings” has a place of honor on our bookshelves. Did you ever happen to see “The Face of Texas,” which Michael and I co-authored (he took the photos and I did the writing)? Check it out on Michael’s website or on Amazon.com. It is a coffee table book of portraits and stories of Texans, both famous and “ordinary.” Austin was a very soft landing after New York, but I will always miss the city—both Manhattan and Brooklyn. Life has sped by. Jesse is finishing business school in Fort Worth at TCU (Texas Christian University, a wonderful school), Owen is at the University of Texas Austin, living on her own; and Sam is a senior at Westlake High School, still playing soccer. He is sort of a mini-me of Michael. Texas is very much a world unto itself, and Austin is a liberal, Democratic oasis in the midst of the Bible Belt. Also a high-tech hub, university town, state capital, and music center. I like it very much and feel at home. Our suburban home backs up to a Greenbelt with canyons and creeks and trails. We have a Bichon Frise and a chocolate Lab puppy and they are my therapists and walking partners. In the meantime, I have started a small private practice as an LPC-I (Licensed Professional Counselor-Intern), working under the supervision of Dr. Sunny Lansdale at Treaty Oak Psychotherapy. It’s a trip. I have a tiny, closet-sized office, but it’s a start. Michael is struggling in photography—the world has changed—but he is persevering.
How is big Rad? Is he still at the museum? And are you still editing and writing for magazines?
Thanks so much for your gracious comments. If I come to New York sometime, you must make time to see me.
Love ya,
Elizabeth

]]> Comment on Launching Ourselves by Rosemarie R. http://blog.elizobrien.com/?p=5&cpage=1#comment-3 Rosemarie R. Thu, 29 Jan 2009 03:36:58 +0000 http://blog.elizobrien.com/?p=5#comment-3 Elizabeth! This is so beautifully said. So wise. How wonderful to find your blog by happenstance, and then to realize that we are each going through the same thing, sending our boys (my first, your last) off to college, watching them step out on their own, push against the limits, take their punishment (having decided in advance that the infraction was worth it), take their leave in increments. I didn't realize that Sam and Raddy would be applying to college the same year. Raddy and I are very alike in temperament, which means we clash sometimes, but this year, we are both being gentle with one another, trying to make these last months before he heads out on his own, count towards good memories. Sometimes we fail miserably, but we are at least both aware of the line on which we stand. Kai sounds more like Owen, as you describe her. Oh Elizabeth, I still miss you and your family, though it turns out that I am not very good at keeping in touch. I get immersed in the immediate. I still love you and think of you often, though you would never know it from my years of silence. But it is good to see you here, expressing my new reality with such clarity, so that, reading you, I understand and accept this place we have arrived at with a sense of peace. I am blogging, too, at 37paddington.blogspot.com. Something about knowing that the childrearing years are running fast toward the culmination of everything we've tried to pour into our kids, makes one reflective I guess. I am so happy to know you and yours are doing well. Where does Sam want to go to college? What are your older two pursuing? Raddy, too, has heard from three early action schools, he got in to all, but now we wait for the others, and for the financial packages, too! Okay, I could go on and on with this stream of consciousness, but let me just say I'm proud of you, you did what you set out to do. I send my love. You look lovely, by the way. Still the same. Please also give my love to Michael. I check out his portfolio online periodically. The work is always amazing. Email me sometime or leave a comment on my blog. Even though Kai is still home for another three years, I am starting to feel the empty nest twinges, and would love to hear how you are handling that. Take care of yourself, my friend. Hugs, Rosemarie (aka Angella Lister, my blog name). Elizabeth! This is so beautifully said. So wise. How wonderful to find your blog by happenstance, and then to realize that we are each going through the same thing, sending our boys (my first, your last) off to college, watching them step out on their own, push against the limits, take their punishment (having decided in advance that the infraction was worth it), take their leave in increments. I didn’t realize that Sam and Raddy would be applying to college the same year. Raddy and I are very alike in temperament, which means we clash sometimes, but this year, we are both being gentle with one another, trying to make these last months before he heads out on his own, count towards good memories. Sometimes we fail miserably, but we are at least both aware of the line on which we stand. Kai sounds more like Owen, as you describe her. Oh Elizabeth, I still miss you and your family, though it turns out that I am not very good at keeping in touch. I get immersed in the immediate. I still love you and think of you often, though you would never know it from my years of silence. But it is good to see you here, expressing my new reality with such clarity, so that, reading you, I understand and accept this place we have arrived at with a sense of peace. I am blogging, too, at 37paddington.blogspot.com. Something about knowing that the childrearing years are running fast toward the culmination of everything we’ve tried to pour into our kids, makes one reflective I guess. I am so happy to know you and yours are doing well. Where does Sam want to go to college? What are your older two pursuing? Raddy, too, has heard from three early action schools, he got in to all, but now we wait for the others, and for the financial packages, too! Okay, I could go on and on with this stream of consciousness, but let me just say I’m proud of you, you did what you set out to do. I send my love. You look lovely, by the way. Still the same. Please also give my love to Michael. I check out his portfolio online periodically. The work is always amazing. Email me sometime or leave a comment on my blog. Even though Kai is still home for another three years, I am starting to feel the empty nest twinges, and would love to hear how you are handling that. Take care of yourself, my friend. Hugs, Rosemarie (aka Angella Lister, my blog name).

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