In Short
Everyday dégagé.
What is Dégagé?
Life is a blessing and a struggle, and through trial
and error I have found that the best way to suck the marrow from the
very bones of life is to have a well laid plan for everything, and then
dégagé when that plan goes to hell. What is dégagé? It is a
term from Haitian Kreyol that means, roughly, to take what you have, the
circumstances you find yourself in, and make something of them.
For
me, dégagé is not an innate skill, but an acquired philosophy. It helps me to keep from obsessing about the
problems of a privileged life and focus on the many blessings and
resources we have at hand.
About Crystal
I am the kind of person who as a
baby would amuse myself quietly in her playpen for hours, and then
terrify my parents by growling when I was picked up. I love my
husband, Don, who keeps me sane and taught me how to dégagé. His mother once made waffles with beer when they were out of milk - it is an inbred skill. I love my three daughters, who are lights in the darkness and keep us all well practiced in the art of dégagé. I love our lab, Boss, and I thank him for being ecstatic with 10 minutes of
exercise a day followed by intense lounging, unless it is 6:30am or 4:15pm exactly which is mealtime. I firmly believe that
the only people who will ever want to read anything I write are
people who are related to me by blood or marriage, or who are
desperately bored or possibly seeking treatment for a severe head injury. But I am working on that.
In former
incarnations I have been a Blockbuster store clerk, a research
assistant, a volunteer at a homeless shelter, a people coordinator, a
data entry drone, that telemarketer you want to kill, and a development
office drone. The best part of any job that I had was writing, and it
has taken me longer than I hoped to figure out that this is what I am
supposed to do. I only hope it won't take as long for me to figure out exactly how to do it!
I love the brown sugar packets in strong coffee, dipping things in
ranch dressing (homemade, sorry Don), pears, and anything that involves a topping of bubbly,
baked cheese. I am a not-so-secret sci-fi nerd and enjoy sneaking
trashy but well written romance novels into my husbands great books
bookshelf. I love running...well, jogging...ok I like going for walks. And, thank you, but no, I am in no way interested
in ever running a marathon. I love reading, and hope to one day write
something of which someone somewhere can say the same.
About Don
Don is the kind of man who goes outside and rides horses bareback during snowstorms, and then comes back inside and reads books about talking mice to his daughter while sipping whiskey in front of a roaring fire that he built with his own two hands. He is an Emergency Medicine physician who spends the better part of his day dealing with people on their worst day and trying to make it a good experience. On top of that he is a beer making bearded warrior poet who writes more TripAdvisor reviews than he will ever admit. In other words, he is dead sexy.
He has also earned a place in every dedication I ever write, as being the most supportive and wonderful husband anyone could ever imagine. Including you. You cannot imagine how supportive and wonderful he is. You just can't.
