My friend sent these pictures to us last night during our weekly zoom call. Some I had never seen before. It really feels like a lifetime ago. I remember what we were doing and where we were in all of the pictures except this first one. I don't even remember those clothes but I was told we were at Marcy's bridal shower. We were about 22 or 23 in this picture...
And here we are 30 years later...still great friends!
Here we're headed out for a night on the town...probably to Boston. I do remember wearing that outfit and actually remember that picture being taken. I think I look kind of cute! (I'm in the middle by the way)...
Look how young Patty and I look in this picture! Wow!! And Patty's Dad! He was such a wonderful man and the best Dad...
Me and Michele. I'm not sure where this was taken but I do remember that top.
This picture cracks me up! I'm giving Michele (who was taking the picture) the finger! Bad girl! Haha!! We had rented a house on the Cape for the week and were taking a day trip over to the Vineyard. Such a fun week! So many awesome funny memories!!
I think this was my high school graduation party...
So glad I'm still in touch with everyone. Such great memories!
This breaks my heart. Today school was officially cancelled for the rest of the year. Although I knew it was probably going to happen...I still held out hope that the last week or so of school would be salvaged and he would somehow have his high school graduation. But our senior won't have his prom...he won't have his all night grad party...and he won't have his graduation. The irony of being born one month before 9/11 and his senior year there's a pandemic. Just unbelievable.
BUT...looking on the bright side...he has so much to look forward to the next few years making his dream come true playing junior hockey and starting his college classes. His future is bright and it will get better. That I know for sure.
Dear High School Senior,
There are probably a lot of emotions running
through you right now. At some point in the not-too-distant-past, you felt a
jolt of electricity when the announcement first hit – school was cancelled for
two weeks. Although there were other important milestones that fell to the
friendly fire, they were usually accompanied with terms like “postponed” and
“rescheduled.” As the days mounted but before the Netflix shows became stale,
those words morphed into one reverberating clanging – “cancelled.”
The mourning began. There’s a prom dress that
is still veiled in its plastic sheath. There are cleats in the closet that have
barely pierced the grass. But there was one that you kept up home of adorning –
your graduation robes. For some schools, it’s a white dress or a suit. For
others, it’s a robe emblematic of your school’s colors. For some it’s a neatly
pressed uniform. Whatever you were supposed to drape over your shoulders or pin
to the top of your head will remain behind your closet door with the rest of
your academic year.
You have every reason to be upset. The parties, the pomp,
the circumstance – it’s all a right of passage that nearly every adult in your
life has taken a part in. This was taken away from you not by a government, not
by a school administrator, but by a freak event no collective memory can
empathize with you. The loss of the end of your senior year is a loss no matter
what anyone says. You can grieve for it because it is now and will continue to
be an important part of your life as it is an important part of everyone’s
lives. It’s unfair. It sucks. Do you hear me? It sucks.
But I write to you now so that when you take
your entitled time to grieve, to look back at your mom. As she reads the
governor’s orders, she will need a hug too.
From the moment you were born, she was told,
“the days are long, but the years are short.” She whispered that phrase to
herself as she had you laid over her shoulder, wobbling and weaving from one
foot to another to get you to sleep. On your first birthday, she spent way too
much money on things you don’t remember like high-chair fringe and a small cake
that you showed no interest in. But she knew that, “the days are long, but the
years are short.” She drove you to your practices at the crack of dawn and then
stayed up late at night cleaning your foul uniforms. When you got your blue
ribbons, she was proud. When you had your first heart break, she stomped around
her bedroom in anger. When you got your college acceptance letter, she wrapped
her arms around your grown-up body, shouting happy congratulations, but really
thinking, “the days are long, but the years are short.”
In your memories, you see your parents as bystanders in
the great milestones of your life. As a matter of fact, they were able to stand
by and celebrate after long periods of planning, sacrifice, and personal
struggle. The last two months of your senior year were no doubt showered in
parties, end-of-the-year banquets, ceremonies, and, lastly, graduation. Each of
those necessitated some large degree of planning whether it be dress code,
carpooling, invitations, or little trays of foods to have out at your house
afterwards. All of this usually goes unnoticed. In the excitement, we tend to
overlook that which moms are best at – making sure everything is taken care of.
Your mom is probably disappointed that the
trays of food she ordered won’t be eaten. She’s probably upset the
fiesta-themed decorations she pinned on Pinterest won’t come to fruition. But
what she is most upset over is that this is one thing that her child wants,
deserves, and earned but cannot have. No matter how hard she fights, she will
not be able to fix this for you the way she desperately wants to. It’s every
scraped knee and broken friendship over your life compounded in a huge pile of grief.
So, take heart. You’ll continue to be stuck
inside. Your visions of the end of your high school career are shattered.
You’re devastated, and that’s ok. Like your mom told herself, “the days are
long, but the years are short,” this too shall pass. Just remember that while
those long days are surely to be filled with heartbreak, they can also be
filled with mutual healing. You might think she just doesn’t understand, but
she does. She might not show the way that you want because she’s trying to hold
it all together. Congrats,
Senior. And congrats, Mom. You did it too, and I couldn’t be prouder.
Mikey has found his new place to sleep at night...on Julia's bed. She made him this cute little nook...
A pretty new couch for our porch...
Julia and I finished our second puzzle. This time it had all the pieces. We've already started on puzzle number three right after finishing this one...
Now it's time to start a new week in the longest month of my life...
I've had endless Zoom meetings lately. I work for a management training company that primarily does in-class training. Now we're scrambling to turn into a virtual training company. And that transition has been exhausting. Thankfully we had already been doing some virtual classes for a few clients so we had something in place. I'm just so grateful to still have a job right now. Hopefully the little company I work for will survive this strange time we're all living in. I work with very smart motivated people who are all working around the clock to make that happen.
But I could do without all the face to face virtual Zoom meetings...just saying.
The pieces are hiding somewhere at my Mom's house...thanks to her cat...which is now my cat. Kind of ironic...isn't it? Doing a puzzle of cats when a cat stole two of the pieces.
I'm really starting to lose my mind. It's becoming increasingly overwhelming for me. Just thinking about how much my kids are missing out on their lives (socializing with friends, school, dance, hockey, Cancun, college tours, banquets, proms, high school graduation and ALL the end of year activities)...and how housebound I'm feeling (and I'm sure how they're feeling)...and all the people who are being financially ruined by this...it's just too much. I knew April was going to be tough...and it's only the 11th...and looking at all the days ahead...and not knowing when this nightmare/groundhog day situation is going to end...it is just all so incredibly daunting and overwhelming.
And to top it off...I miss my beautiful Mama. It's so painful to think about her. There's nothing in my life right now that is "normal".
I'm praying that this virus can be controlled, caregivers and essential workers will be protected, the economy will strengthen again and life can finally finally go back to normal.
Well...not much to do these days so I thought maybe it would be fun to try some painting. My sister shared this fabulous YouTube channel called Wow Art. There's no talking...just the most relaxing music and beautiful painting.
I've discovered that I'm not that bad at painting...but I'm not that good either. Haha!!
This is mine...
And this is Julia's...
Ummm...needless to say she got all the artistic talent in the family! Just look at her clouds!!! And mountains!!! And trees!!!
Zoom work calls with people from all around the world that are in the same boat as me...
Hysterically funny Zoom calls with my friends...
And my attempt at artwork...
Next up...I still need to read a book that someone gave me and I really want to watch Ozark Season 3. But hey...I do have the ENTIRE MONTH OF APRIL (and God help us if this runs into May and then June) to do those things since everything else in my life has been CANCELED. Ugh....
P.S. Nicholas got his COVID-19 test results back and it was negative...phew...but he's still having fevers and not feeling well. Hopefully this too shall pass.
