Memorial Day weekend. Nice. When we remember those who fought for us and didn’t make it home and we can also thank those who fought and did make it home. I have a friends who fought and did come home and I’m very thankful for their presence.

This weekend we are celebrate with great friends at their lake house in upstate New York. Today the weather is exceptionally good especially after all the rain and cool temps we’ve had. I’m lounging on a beach chair with my friend, Martha on her boat dock/deck. The sun is surprisingly strong. I made sure to purchase sunscreen. It feels so good though. The sun. And listening to the lake lap at the shore. I haven’t gone further than stick my feet in the lake but that’s ok I’m not a big swimmer and there is this wonderful cool breeze that comes and goes so you don’t feel overheated.

A perfect get away for a long weekend. The lake is simply beautiful. Actually this whole area we’re in is beautiful. Lush greenery, mountains off in the distance, ducks swimming in the lake. I love watching the ducks they just go with the flow of the water. There’s a mama and 5 little ones. Just perfect.

The only thing that’s not so perfect are the bugs. On our first morning I opened up the door and there a crapload of moths stuck to the screen door. I was like “ Ahhh!!! Mothra!” For those not familiar with that word it’s from the Godzilla era films. Not cute then, not cute now. I know I should lighten up moths don’t bite as far as I know but still…

So here’s to one more morning of not getting up early, one more night of dinner and drinks with great and generous friends.!

My husband and I met when we were 15 years old. I’ll never forget. Tommy was removing old shoe laces from his sneakers to replace them with new ones. The old ones were all tied in knots and he was burning them off with a lighter. I didn’t know him and asked, “Do you always burn off your shoelaces?” Tommy looked up at me and I remember looking into those green eyes. I was like wow! He answered me back that the old ones were tied in knots, that was the only way to get them off the sneakers. He ended up that September attending the same high school I attended. In the meantime I had dyed my hair blonde and he was looking for me asking around for me. Everyone he asked said yes they knew me; I was a blonde. Poor Tommy kept saying, no, she’s not blonde… she has brown hair. It wasn’t until we met again face to face did he believe that it was really me with blonde hair.

We started off as friends and were pretty much inseparable. We went to concerts together, hung out together with friends. Keg parties. I liked him more than a friend but was afraid that if we dated it would ruin the friendship. Fast forward a couple of years, we were 17 and sure enough we were a couple.

We were married when we were 25 years old. This November will be 28 years married. And Tommy is still my friend. He’s the best friend I’ve ever had. He is smart, funny, generous, thoughtful, giving, caring, loving and kind. As time passes I feel like I get to know him better and better that there’s more to learn about him. With our kids almost all grown ( Samantha is turning 16 this August) we are able to spend time together alone and it’s nice. I have to say this is a sweet season in our marriage where I feel I can really appreciate my husband. Not that I didn’t appreciate him before; I always appreciated and respected Tommy but now it feels I do so on a different level. When your children are young everything is about them. Throw a special needs kid in there… what was less about you is even more so. Today I’m thankful for Tommy and the love and patience he’s shown me.

Last week I tested positive for Covid. Of course I was home from work as a result. The first two days all I wanted to do was sleep so off to the basement I went to stay. Our basement is finished so I didn’t feel banned from society or anything. The following 3 days I felt like I had a really bad cold with a touch of flu. Ibuprofen worked well. So after my days of isolation and no longer being symptomatic I was ready to go back to work. Not quite. I had a tooth that abscessed and it was swollen like on the inside of my mouth. I figured my dentist would just change the antibiotic I was on. Nope. The tooth needed to be pulled. Now. So I called a local oral surgeon and the only time they could fit me in was the next morning. Another day off from work. The tooth pulling was not too bad. I was pretty anxious but there really wasn’t any reason to be.

So the next day (Wednesday) I returned to work. I had never been out so long; a week. I received the warmest welcome back ever from the staff. Teachers and paras told me they missed me, I was hugged and received phone calls saying I was missed; I was also told rather sternly “I hope you got that out of your system, you can’t do that again.” I felt so appreciated it was great. You don’t know how much your presence affects others until you’re not there for a while. I did receive texts while I was out and that was so sweet but the in person welcome back was really amazing. And school/work life goes on. Students who require daily care; g tube feeds, staff bringing in students for meds, students who are “walk-ins” to the nursing office with various complaints about how they feel and parents to call. I have no complaints, the past 3 days went well and as expected even though you really need to be able to expect the unexpected at my school.