Just 40 Days

As you may know, after being a widower for more than five years, my dad got married this past summer. His wife had been a widower for more than ten years and I went to high school with her daughter Barb.  Having never had a step sister before, I lovingly call her my 'evil step-sister' because that sounds more fun.  I had mentioned to Barb that I missed (and needed) my old friends from high school.  I wanted to reconnect with two in particular, Lisa and Patty, as they, like me, lost an adult child in 2014. Today we all celebrated Barb's birthday.  Cheers to you, Barb-my evil-step sista!  I love you.

I'm thinking that these next few weeks are not going to be that easy.  Everyday, reminds me of what I was doing last year at this time.  Today's reminder was Carly playing soccer.  The funeral arrangements and burial of Haylee took about 10 days from beginning to end.  During that time all of the family was in town.  The first weekend was full of soccer at the CYO fields.  Carly's great grandparents, grandparents, aunts and uncles all attended.  The sky was blue and the wind was fierce...alot like today.  Dear Clarence...good grief...let's get through this!

Today, many of my family members went to the Maumee Indoor Theater to see my granddaughter Carly in her school's production of the Little Mermaid, Jr.  It was very cute and of course she did great.  Carly was a sea creature.  Her 3 year old cousin Cameron was in attendance to see her and Carly gave her a hug during the production.  It was adorable. The reason I'm feeling melancholy is because last year's production of The Wizard of Oz, where Carly played a munchkin, was the last event that Haylee attended with us.

Today is a busy day.  Soon I will be going to the funeral of the 89 year old father of several of my cousins.  Uncle Bill was genuinely kind and will be missed by all who knew him. After that I will be heading over to my niece's home to celebrate my dad's 80th birthday.  From funerals to birthdays...life is made up of events that are sometimes planned but mostly unexpected.  It is not always the same as what we think if should be, but it is always life. 

I like to write more than I like to talk.  (I know, those of you who know me know that it's hard to get me to keep quiet.)  I like to write because most of the time my brain is going faster than my mouth and when I talk, my words get mixed up.  When I write, I can reread and edit.  When I talk...I only get one chance.  So, I like to write. I'm grateful that my mom forced me to take the typing course in high school.  I tried to fight her on it as I was going to college, not becoming an office worker like she was.  She was a wise woman as I used my keyboarding skills in college, earning extra money by typing term papers for others.  I continue to use my skills everyday. In my nearly 20 years of teaching, I have found that writing is a lost art.  Students seem to not like writing.  Whether it is with pen and paper or on the computer.  I feel bad that they don't share the joy of writing that I have.  It truly is a stress reli...

As I was sitting in the waiting area of the SafeLite glass repair shop while they replaced my shattered windshield, I was overwhelmed with a feeling  of empathy.  I was looking at my windshield and I thought, my windshield is broken in the same spot of that of the Ford Focus that hit Haylee. I had glass on the inside of my car, just as it did.  Then I remembered how scared I was when I heard the sound of the impact of the huge rock that hit it. I thought of the driver of the Ford Focus.  She must have heard a similar sound.  It was like a boom, I felt it in my stomach.  I didn't know what happened.  I didn't see anything hit my car.  I only know that I had glass on me.  I was frightened. I slowed down from the 45-50 mph traveling speed.  In that split second, I was already more than 200 feet from the bridge which the debris fell before I even realized that the sound came from the impact of something hitting my windshield.  I did...

 As I was driving home from work today on the Anthony Wayne Trail, trying to avoid as many potholes as I could, I heard a large boom!  I was frightened, thinking I had blown a tire, hit something, or perhaps even had been shot. (okay, maybe being shot was extreme but that's what I thought.)  My heart was racing as I looked out my windshield, noticing I was splattered with glass and the entire passenger side was shattered.  Apparently, something very large had fallen from the sky, or the overpass I was going under near the zoo.  The center of the impact was the size of a baseball. I didn't know what to do, pull over, call the police...it was heavy traffic, during rush hour.  I wasn't hurt, just shakened up.  So I slowed down my speed and decided to call 911 as a non emergency, to report the danger of the overpass. It was the old railway pass that is painted with animals.  The operator was very nice, kept me calm and took the information.  ...