Fully Remote

Julia came to us asking if she could go fully remote for school for the rest off her senior year of high school.  The reason?  She has no friends left at school.  Julia?  No friends?  How unbelievably sad is that?  Not because she wants to be lazy and do school from the comfort of her bed.  No.  It's because she has NO FRIENDS left in school.  She was eating lunch ALONE.  This picture was taken just last year at school lunch before this nightmare began...

The girl who was always surrounded by friends.  None of the girls in this picture are in school with her anymore.  Either they go to school in a separate cohort because of the simple fact their last name begins at the end of the alphabet or they have chosen to go fully remote.  She has other friends as well not pictured here and they too aren't in school with her anymore.

This virus, as well as the people who are making the decisions as to how to run our public schools, have stolen her senior year of high school and everything that it should have been for her.  I'm angry.  No...actually I'm furious.  What should have been an amazing fun senior year of high school making memories to last a lifetime...has turned into no memories at all.  Zero.  Most of us could not even fathom not having had a senior year of high school surrounded by the comfort and laughter of our closest friends. Just as simple as walking through the halls between classes and seeing everyone in person all in one place...football games...pep rallies...hanging out with friends at lunch...making plans to hang out after school and on the weekends...having the ever so important relationships with your favorite high school teachers...going to a prom (which will never happen for her in her lifetime)...the fun of getting ready for a prom...the pictures...the dancing...the all-nighter…the end of year in school events like the senior cookout...graduation rehearsals...graduation on the high school football field surrounded by all your classmates, teachers and family for the last time...the all night grad party...and actually being able to see everyone's faces...without masks. 

The comradery of being a senior in high school is gone.  Just gone. 

I am beyond sad for her.  I just don't have the words anymore to express what I've been watching unravel in her life and the lives of all these kids.  Loss of education and social isolation just for starters. 

My sadness turns into Anger and then to Sadness and then to Anger again...and on and on and on it goes.  

I tell her to just forget about high school and concentrate on the fall when she begins a new chapter in her life at college.  But will that even happen?  Will she even be allowed on campus?  If she is will there be in person classes?  If there is will they be allowed to even sit near each other?  If they can't how will she make friends?  How will she get to know people and see what they even look like?  Will there even be a dance team that she's been dreaming about being a part of?  And if there is will they even get to perform and compete as they haven't been able to for a second season now?  THERE IS NO END IN SIGHT. 

Wear a mask...no now it's time to Double Mask...oh wait...best protection is to TRIPLE MASK...not enough vaccine...it may not even protect you..."don't let your guard down"...new variant...

This is taken straight from the CDC website today...and I quote...

Question:

"Do I need to wear a mask and avoid close contact with others if I have gotten 2 doses of the vaccine?"

Answer:

"Yes. Not enough information is currently available to say if or when CDC will stop recommending that people wear masks and avoid close contact with others to help prevent the spread of the virus that causes Covid-19." 

And there you have it people...

NO END IN SIGHT 

Woke up to this : )

486

Mom's home as a young girl 

Nana and Grampy's home

Dad & Grampy's Real Estate and Insurance businesses

Mom and Dot's store

Kerry's dance studio

Dad's home

Kerry's home

Rick's home

Mom's home

My home

Now that my grandparents are gone...and all the family businesses are gone...and my Mom is no longer there either...the house doesn't feel like home to me anymore.  And it's time to sell.  

All Mom's knickknacks and things that brought her happiness, laughter and joy may look like clutter to some...but not to us.  We know that each and every thing she had on display in her home were precious and meaningful to her...and her treasures are our treasures now...

I remember...

my Nana in the kitchen giving us donuts and milk after church

my Nana and Grampy sitting in their living room chairs watching me play with my toys on the floor after preschool

Grampy following us around the house and yard with his camera taking pictures as we played

family holiday dinners in the front hall with my Nana's famous Waldorf Salad and Grampy "stealing" food off our plates

Grampy showing old home movies and slide shows in his office

riding the cement "horses" at the entrance to the cemetery

playing Lost and Space on the glider with my siblings

laying on the couch in the living room watching PBS and reruns of Bewitched when I was home sick from elementary school...and my Dad bringing me peppermint candy sticks from Clark's Pharmacy

visiting my Dad in his front office

visiting my Mom in her store

years of dance lessons in the studio out back

living in my haunted 3rd floor apartment

visiting Mom in her second floor apartment

and of course spending time with Mom in her home on the first floor

To me the house has become a shell of what it used to be. It's now just a stripped down version of what it was...but it's still a beautiful old home with lots of character and awesome family memories.

The kitchen still has the original cabinets and countertops. I would know the sound of those drawers and cabinets opening and closing anywhere...

The bathroom also has the original cabinets and countertop.  I remember the scent of my Nana's Ponds cold cream that she had on the counter.  When I was a little girl, I would twist the top open and smell it every time we were there to visit. I have some in my own bathroom now just because that scent will always remind me of her.  

My Mom's dining room used to be my Nana's living room where I would play and watch TV...

This used to be my Grandfather's office which became my Mom's bedroom.  My Mom and I share the love of the color yellow...

The front hall is where we had all those family holiday dinners.  My grandparents would set up a long table and we would sit there for what felt like hours enjoying delicious home cooked meals my Nana and Mom prepared. We have literally hundreds of pictures and even some videos from my Mom's childhood of her in this great room going to high school dances, hanging with girlfriends, going on dates and on her wedding day.

This small front room was where my Mom had her desk for so many years...first with the Children's Clothes Closet and then it was her place to play her beloved computer games.  She loved to keep watch out those windows...

This room used to be the middle room of her children's consignment shop which became her living room.  I can still picture her sitting there on the end of the couch, sipping on her coffee with her TV table watching her favorite TV shows...

Kerry's old studio...such amazing memories and friendships were made in there...and how wonderful it was for Julia to be able to dance there too so many years later.  It's very ironic that it's now her senior year of high school and the last year she'll need to use it for her solos. Life has really come full circle.

What a gift Nana, Grampy and Mom have given us.  Beautiful memories that will last the span of our lifetimes.  

Beauty

Happy Birthday Sister Kerry

My favorite picture of my sister and Mama...

Happy Birthday Sister!!  xoxo

Sacred Heart University

She got in!!!!!  We are so unbelievably proud of our girl!!!  This was the most competitive nursing program she applied to and her favorite school other than Endicott.  Only a 40% acceptance rate for the nursing program and you have to be seated your freshman year otherwise you don't get in.  

She also received the highest merit scholarship, the President's Excellence Award, plus additional money for the dance program...for a total of $20,000 a year!  

They are a Division One school with a fabulous dance program! 

Just look at the campus...it is GORGEOUS!!  This is a dorm...for real...

Not a blade of grass out of place...it literally looks like this in the middle of the hot summer...so meticulous...

Julia in the nursing building...

Their nursing building has a replica of a real hospital wing...

Look at these dorms! 

This is the main lobby of one of the new dorms...

Like I said...GORGEOUS!  

And as beautiful as Sacred Heart is...so is Endicott College...

Which will it be???