Dear Friend,

After a conversation about the importance of the written word in relationships and reading Schall's chapter "On Essays and Letters," I  realize I have been amiss in not writing to a great many people.  There are so many dear friends that I miss nowadays, so many of you that have moved to all corners of the country and the earth.  I wish I had the discipline to sit down and write out longhand a missive to each of you.  Right now, while Finn sleeps, an electronic epistle will have to suffice.

I want to say how blessed I have been to have so many friends who, despite my occasional neglect or constant distance, keep up our friendships.  It means so much to have friends whom one can pick up with where one left off.  Being with my dear friend from high school and her family yesterday, who were like a second family to me growing up, and talking again to a dear former roommate today reminded me of what a wonderful thing that is.  There are so many friends I don't even deserve, but the essence of friendship is that it is a gift, one often given and re-given to the undeserving. 


Each every person reading still thinks about me, or they wouldn't bother.  I think about you all too. As I am raising my family, I cannot forget my other family: the friends who have freely chosen to bind themselves to me and whose bonds I feel across time and distance.  Remembering the discussions we have had, the comraderie we have shared and the adventures, I will not forget what we have learned together.

This being said, I hope that my little letters to you about how my family and I are doing help you feel a part of our lives still.  And don't be a stranger: call, visit, write your own letter-physical or not!

Hmm very interesting!

And now, a little update:

Finn is three months old now!  He's reaching and grabbing all the time, especially for my hair.  He is interested in his little buddies and toys, at least in how they taste and feel.  He is the sweetest baby and loves to smile and giggle (some of the things that make him laugh are: pretending to be "super baby" or a rocketship, Daddy, and bouncing up and down on Mama's tummy).  I hope that anyone who wants to can come and visit him someday, he is very nice to guests.

holding hands :)

Some of the things I've been cooking/baking up lately include: Pumpkin cookies with caramel glaze, which you really should make immediately, pumpkin bread pudding  (from smitten kitchen again), chicken pot pie (sorry no recipe as I'm really not sure how much of everything I used), and banana bread.  For the last I'm providing the recipe as it is my absolute favorite kind of banana bread.  The recipe is my mom's from a long-out-of-print Betty Crocker cookbook.  This is how I always want banana bread to taste like: dense, cakey, and super banana-y!








Mom's Banana Bread
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp butter
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
4 bananas, mashed (You can freeze bananas in their skins when they are starting to look beyond "Ready for Eating," as a family I know says, and then, when you are ready to make banana bread, just put them in a bowl of ice water until they thaw)
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

1) Heat oven to 350 and grease loaf pan.
2)Beat sugar, butter, and egg.  Stir in milk and bananas.
3)Blend dry ingredients and stir in.
4)Pour in pan and bake for about one hour.

Don't forget to smother it in butter!

I hope you make some and enjoy it!
Hope to hear from you soon!
Love,
Megan

p.s. If you would like to write real letters with me, please send me an email.  I would really like that!

Today is: The Feast of St. Ignatius of Antioch
Finn is: 3 months and 3 days old!
Mama is reading: The Unseriousness of Human Affairs by James Schall, S.J. (I finally finished Old Thunder and The Napoleon of Notting Hill)