Sarah Rise Weekly Updates

The flooding on Long Beach Island cleared, so my mom and I were able to have most of our scheduled time there. The weather was beautiful, the sunrises gorgeous, and the company excellent. We went for walks, saw the musical Vanities, read books, talked about everything, remembered my stepfather, and watched murder mysteries. At one… Read more »

“If I ever leave you it will be for the washing machine.” That was my answer to Carl’s question on Thursday evening about how I liked our Speed Queen that was delivered that afternoon. After almost two weeks without a washer, we were still ok but the piles were getting high, and I was thrilled… Read more »

A week ago, a small miracle occurred. Every year since Sarah was a baby, I have gone to Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks. When she was a baby, she didn’t make it through a whole performance because, well, she was a baby. For many years after that, Carl would stay home with Sarah while I… Read more »

Carl came home from his Alaskan cruise with his parents and sister just in time to deal with our broken washing machine! He brought home water from a glacier for us all to sample (it tasted good, like water should) and he brought his delight in researching what new product would best serve our washing… Read more »

To help you understand the kind of person Carl is, let me explain that he looked at a giant buffet of desserts and did not partake! Amy and I were shocked and horrified by his behavior. You can see our faces as we saw the picture he sent of the delicious array of options. Luckily,… Read more »

Carl returned from his incredibly gorgeous time in Norway just in time for Sarah’s first day at Duquesne University in the St. Anthony School Program. It’s a post-secondary program that focuses on job and life skills while pairing the students with work-study students for the jobs that are on campus. There are some academic classes… Read more »

This week we had the famed Camp Anna, which got its start due to the pandemic and has continued and expanded every summer since then. Our phenomenal sitter Anna runs the camp at our house, blending all sorts of activities so the days are somehow relaxed and packed with fun at the same time. Two… Read more »

It was like something out of a movie as we saw a man doing a handstand on a metal boat tie-up post at a vaporetto stop in Venice. He was clearly trying to impress the woman in a red evening gown standing next to him. I’m sure that part was going swimmingly well, until he… Read more »

Amy had exactly forty-eight hours between the end of sleep-away camp and when Tom, Sarah’s favorite taxi driver, drove us to the airport to fly to Venice. One thing we did well was to arrange things so we could check in to our Airbnb right away. Fortunately, it has air conditioning since we are in… Read more »

A week ago, Sarah and I dropped Amy off for a week of sleep-away camp with her bestie. They were going to be counselors-in-training for the first time. This was also Amy’s first sleep-away camp experience without wearing a scoliosis brace, without worrying about it getting wet or when to take it off before activities…. Read more »