I recently finished reading a book called Bird by Bird by Annie Lamott.  It is a wonderful book about writing and life and I can't say enough good things about it.  In it, on page 205, she tells a story that I continue to reread and retell over and over again.  It is so heartbreaking and beautiful, perfectly capturing the innocence of a child.

Here is that story:

Here is the best true story on giving I know, and it was told by Jack Kornfield of the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre.  An eight-year-old boy had a younger sister who was dying of leukemia, and he was told that without a blood transfusion she would die. His parents explained to him that his blood was probably compatible with hers, and if so, he could be the blood donor. They asked him if they could test his blood.  He said sure. So they did and it was a good match.  Then they asked if he would give his sister a pint of blood, that it could be her only chance of living. He said he would have to think about it overnight.

The next day he went to his parents and said he was willing to donate the blood. So they took him to the hospital where he was put on  a gurney beside his six-year-old sister. Both of them were hooked up to IVs.  A nurse withdrew a pint of blood from the boy, which was then put in the girl's IV.  The boy lay on his gurney in silence while the blood dripped into his sister, until the doctor came over to see how he was doing. Then the boy opened his eyes and asked, "How soon until I start to die?"

The weather has been so beautiful recently.  We have been enjoying open windows and delightfully cool breezes, bright sunshine and warm summer-like air.  

This spider plant resides on my kitchen windowsill. You can actually remove a small portion of it, plant it by itself and it'll regrow akin to how the original plant was.  The original plant belonged to my Grandma.  After she passed away, my mom took a small portion of it from Colorado and regrew it at our home.  When I moved into my current apartment, she brought me down my own portion of it.  In a little over a year, it has grown from just a couple short leaves to this.  I'm not that great at plants, I tend to favor cut flowers, but this one seems to like it here.

Photo taken with my Yashica (mentioned in this post).

I got curtains yesterday and it inspired me to photograph some things that I love in my living room.

My Yashica TLR used in previous posts.

My mantel. 

My new favorite coffee mug. (I buy way too many coffee mugs.)

My Kindle Fire and its case. (And the designer shares my name!)

My beautiful vintage lamp.

A sleepy Brek.

And my curtains again! I love them.  They are so much better than my old, broken vertical blinds.  And now I can appreciate the view.  
(Spoiler alert: they are really shower curtains.)