Resolution Request

I need some ideas for resolutions that I won't keep can live by. All I can come up with is that 2010 will be a year of no more water retention. Or itching. Anybody?

"A Candle in the Wind"

Remember the fan that blows all your well-placed and organized papers away? It is very real. And I was pointedly reminded the day after we greeted our Sunday here with such a tragic loss. Sending up prayers for my friends the Rochlin's. And everybody else who mourns or weeps or grieves this day. We will say goodbye to Charley this morning.

On a cold, breezy Monday afternoon in Westport, friends and family of the late Charles "Charley" Rochlin filtered through the same Meeker Road residence where the 24-year-old native was raised and returned to when he wasn't serving his country overseas as a U.S. Marine. Seated together around the kitchen island were Rochlin's three younger sisters -- Taylor, 9, Kendall, 12, and Brittany, 21. Slouched in their stools, the three girls said little; their necks glimmered from the personalized diamond pendants their older brother had given to each of them on Christmas morning, less than 48 hours before he was killed in a Sunday morning car accident on Greens Farm Road. Rochlin was traveling in a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by his childhood friend Matthew Packer, 25, of Westport, when wet and foggy conditions forced the vehicle off the roadway and into a tree at about 2:45 a.m. on Sunday. The collision, which produced severe damage to the passenger side of the vehicle, killed Rochlin and sent Packer to Norwalk Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Westport police said. Rochlin's parents described their son on Monday as a family-oriented young man, honored to serve his country as a Marine and happy to live life as an American. "My Charley was dedicated to his family," said his stepmother, Lucretia Rochlin. "A huge, huge part of his life were his three sisters. They adored him; Charley was their hero." So much in fact that when the young Marine returned home in September after a seven-month tour in Iraq, the youngest of the three brought her brother to Coleytown Elementary School for show-and-tell, Lucretia Rochlin said. Whether it was answering questions for a room full of elementary school children or helping his blind, 91-year-old great-grandmother navigate the house, Charley Rochlin had a way of relating to different personalities, she said. "He loved to help people, he was the least selfish person you would ever meet," Lucretia Rochlin said. Born in Westport on Sept. 14, 1985, Charley Rochlin played competitive sports since childhood, taking home junior golf championships and numerous pee-wee hockey trophies, said his father, Scott Rochlin. He attended Fairfield College Preparatory School for three years and played varsity ice hockey, helping lead the Jesuits to two state championship titles, Scott Rochlin said. He went on to graduate from Staples High School before spending a year at Norwalk Community College and another three years at the University of Colorado. In March of 2008, he sat his parents down and announced his intentions to act on his dream of becoming a U.S. Marine, his father said. The family was proud of his intentions and supportive every step of the way, Scott Rochlin said. "I was obviously nervous what with everything that was happening," he said. "Those seven months he was away (on tour in Iraq) I can tell you I got very little sleep." Rochlin had only recently returned home for Christmas break and was scheduled to ship off in early January for a second tour, this time in Afghanistan, his father said. Scott Rochlin awoke Sunday morning expecting to celebrate his own birthday with his wife and children. Instead, there was no celebration; Charley Rochlin was gone. "I was really looking forward to spending my birthday with (Charley)," Scott Rochlin said. "We never quite got there." The funeral will be held on Dec. 30 at 9 a.m. at Saint Luke Church, 49 Turkey Hill Road North, Westport. Interment with full military honors will follow in Willowbrook Cemetery, 395 Main St., Westport. The accident is still under investigation and the Westport Police Department is requesting that anyone who may have witnessed or has information about the accident call the police department at (203) 341-6000.

WESTPORT

By CHASE WRIGHT

Hour Staff Writer

Tuesday Text: Parentexting

I am usually very good at managing my expectations.

Usually.

After Augie took his extended vacation at school after his exams,

I was more than thrilled to have him home.

For about an hour.

Now I pretty much spend my time parentexting.™

Isn't that a good word?

And my boy is such a chatter box.

Not.

And The Bird?

Pretty much the same.

They've been in Vermont since Saturday.

They'll be back for New Year's black eyed peas.

Then back to Vermont they go.

Sigh.

I think I'll go get a new hole punch so I can have something to do....

And isn't this last question what every mother wants to read?

As she is getting ready for bed?

Gah.

Wisdom

Today's Aquarius Horoscope:
Dec 28, 2009

Someone has just turned on the fan, and papers are flying everywhere, dear Aquarius. The pace of things is picking up, and you are scrambling to pick up the pieces. Stay in close communication with others today, for this will be your saving grace. You may require the assistance of others to help fetch the stack of important documents that has blown across the room. Keep a close eye on things so you don't loose your place in the game.

Just when you get everything in order. Poof. It can be gone in an instant. And learning to ask for help from others and to then receive it is one of life's most important lessons. This reminder comes across my desk this morning as a gift from the Universe. And I think we can all use it.

Holiday Finery

Pretty Birds.

Prettiest Bird.

And her fancy brother....

Merry Makers.

Christmas Eve

Once in royal David's city
stood a lowly cattle shed,
where a mother laid her baby
in a manger for his bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little child.

Words: Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895), 1848

Music: Irby (Henry John Gauntlett, 1805-1876)

Tuesday Text on a Wednesday...

Sorry for the delay.

I know you were on the edge of your seat waiting for this.

It's just so riveting.

In a nutshell, my beloved son stayed at school

for two more days after his exams.

And I think they are doing a fine job of educating me...