Mother’s Day was a marvelous experience that required great restraint on my part not to fall into old habits of cleaning the kitchen. After we all got our own breakfasts, I was not to cook or clean. Sarah made sloppy joes (making the sauce from scratch) for lunch with some help from Carl. Amy made a strawberry cake with strawberry frosting. Later, she made non-dairy mint chocolate chip milkshakes using bananas, spinach, soy milk, chocolate chips, and mint extract. Carl made two loaves of bread and a gourmet dinner. All of this was delicious!! And it was so hard to see the kitchen getting ever more covered in the evidence of food preparation and not to clear it at all!! (It was spotless by the end of the day so I didn’t need to worry about it after all.) You can see that I really had to work hard on Mother’s Day!
Another highlight of the week was that Sarah finished high school! Her last day was Monday. It feels like just yesterday that Sarah was starting out as a nine-year-old first-grader in the St. Anthony Program. It also feels like it has been a hundred years of being on tenterhooks for some part of each school year, wondering if I will get a call that I need to pick Sarah up early or that we need to brainstorm how to support her through difficult moments. Her teachers have been kind, supportive, and creative. They have always been open to my thoughts and ideas. We will miss them, and we are glad we get two more years of the St. Anthony Program.
The last three years we have had Tom as Sarah’s beloved bus driver. From day one, he and Sarah adored each other and delighted in their rides together. We feel so blessed to have had him, and we know we will stay in touch, but we are also sad that the time of daily rides is over. Every day when Sarah came home she would immediately run to make a card or five for Tom. He may need to build an addition to his house to store all of the cards. No one in this world has more cards from Sarah than Tom. As I drove with her one day, she said she would miss going over rumble strips with Tom and saying “rumble” together. To commemorate her graduation, Tom got her a white bear wearing a graduation cap. The bear is designed to be signed. He wrote a heartfelt message celebrating her bright smile and sweet self. She has read the message repeatedly and keeps the bear next to her pillow.
Amy’s adventure for the week was to go on a two-night camping trip with her school. She walked 12 miles on Tuesday, uphill both ways! (Or that’s how it felt.) It was a series of hikes, and she missed the detail that after the last hike she could have gotten a ride back to the campground. She was very very tired. But overall she had a great time and even went in the water at Cucumber Falls, despite the water being less than balmy.
We found out that a drawing Amy did of her Whisper brace is on display at the Manchester Craftsman Guild as part of a teen art show!
We are in Philly for an abundance of family gatherings. Friday night after our drive, we had dinner with Carl’s cousin and her family. Well, that is “we minus me.” I went to my mom’s for a quiet dinner just the two of us. Yesterday, with the additional person-power of Carl’s family, we helped my mom (Mom-Mom) with many household projects and tasks. She has been wading through all that has to happen after a person dies while also dealing with home maintenance. I, again, had the difficult job of sitting! After Sarah helped Carl clear gutters, she wanted to nap and wanted me to sit with her. I did so.
Today, there is a special Memorial Meeting for Worship at the school where my dad taught for 37 years. The Meeting will be for him and any other people connected to the school who died within the past year. Not that I love death, but I love how these two family deaths have resulted in gatherings that normally don’t happen, except for when Carl and I got married, bringing all sides of our families together. The blending of care and support is heart-filling.
Wishing you love and support from all directions.
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