#Curious Connections

By Kim Griffin

Raising children, especially boys, offers the gamut of joys and challenges. In #Curious Connections, author Kim Griffin presents a look at her and her husband, Patrick’s, life as they parent two boys. Brien and Matt. This collection of stories shares the funny, and at times, X-rated moments, that transpired along the way as the kids grew from children to men.

Griffin tells how the boys have brought joy and laughter into their parents’ lives. #Curious Connections captures just a small portion of the memories and conversations as the boys journeyed from childhood to teenagers and to adults. As Brien’s and Matt’s vocabularies grew, they amazed and entertained their parents with their unique choice of words, retold lovingly in this memoir.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Dec 14, 2020
• ISBN: 9781480899476

Kim Griffin

Kim is a Sunshine Coast based illustrator and character designer with a love for all things fantasy!A lifelong avid drawer, in 2019 she graduated with an Honours degree in Design in Animation from the University of Technology, Sydney, and gained work as a character and prop designer/layout artist at Kapow Pictures. She is passionate about bringing joy, intrigue and a taste of adventure through her work and aims to create imagery that inspires the minds and imaginations of her young audience.Besides drawing, Kim's favourite things to do include reading, travelling, geeking out over movies and TV, finding the best places to eat and dancing around to boppy music!

Book preview

#CURIOUS

CONNECTIONS

KIM GRIFFIN

Copyright © 2020 Kim Griffin.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical,

including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written

permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in

this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Archway Publishing

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.archwaypublishing.com

844.669.3957

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed

since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do

not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-4808-9946-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-9947-6 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020922595

Archway Publishing rev. date: 12/14/2020

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CONTENTS

In Appreciation

Our Journey, The Early Years

Chapter 1    When It Tingles

Chapter 2    The Agenda

Chapter 3    Welcoming Brien

Chapter 4    The Swimsuit Edition

Chapter 5    Hopps And Bailey

Chapter 6    The Vulva

Chapter 7    Cross-Country Trips

Chapter 8    Juicy Details

Chapter 9    Middle Finger Raised With Due Respect

Chapter 10    Santa Barbara Sunsets

Chapter 11    Brown Sugar Dusting

Chapter 12    Breaking Five

Chapter 13    New Deal Negotiation

Chapter 14    Our Porta Potty Adventure

Chapter 15    Jeter, Our Golden Retriever

Chapter 16    Mom, You Are Our Winter

Chapter 17    New Beginnings

Chapter 18    #Treasured Time

KathleenNobleImage.jpg

Kathleen Nobel provided this sketch

Kathleen Noble, my dear friend and former colleague, provided the sketch on the cover of this book. In 2016 Kathleen took a creative approach to drawing our family crest. The Griffin, our crest, features a lion on the bottom half and an eagle on the top half. The blue legs of the Griffin represent the three strong men in my life, who help me walk with the strength of their legs: Patrick and our two sons, Brien and Matthew. The pink, upper portion of the crest represents two of the women in the Griffin family: me and Patrick’s mother, who share many things in common, including being women who love Griffin men. A more curious connection we share is a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, Kathy in her thirties and me in my forties. So, the claws on the Griffin represent the daily fight we wage against this chronic disease.

My amazing mother-in-law, Kathy, has battled multiple sclerosis for more than five decades. She approaches this fight with determination, persistence, and humor. She refers to her right leg, which has been most affected by multiple sclerosis, as her dangling participle. My dangling participle is my left leg. Together we would make for a challenging three-legged race.

The curious connections that children make as they acquire language and journey through their teenage years into adulthood are central to this book. Patrick and I have been blessed with raising two sons, Brien and Matt, both adults now. They continue to bring so much joy and laughter into our lives. The pages that follow capture a small portion of the stories that each has