Happy 22nd Caz

 Happy birthday oldest child.  Hope you have a better birthday experience than your 21st, early in COVID 19 quarantine.  Maybe you can actually go to a bar (outdoors) this year.  At any rate, enjoy it.  We love you.

Easter 2021

 Great weekend!  Demi got a semblance of her family holiday weekend.  Coco and some of his crew came to visit for the weekend.  It was really nice having them here.  Demi didn't get to host like she likes due to her injured wing.  But she was excited and made the most of it.

Only a couple of weeks removed from shoulder surgery, I didn't even want to offer to cook, knowing Demi would still try to help and would over do it on her shoulder.  I convinced her to order dinner.  After doing some research, she found the jackpot.  Six pounds of pulled pork, double mac & cheese, double tater tots, cornbread and two BBQ sauces.  Not a veggie in site.  Perfect college kid food.

The boys arrived Friday night, right after the Final Four tip-off.  We got pizza and wings.  The game was exciting.  It went right down to the last shot.  It was an sad outcome for the Gamecocks but what a game.

Demi got time with one of her sons.  Coco's friends are fine young gentlemen.  Both our sons continue to surround themselves with good people.  It is so nice to see.  That was the real purpose of the weekend.  Spend time with our son and the people close to him.  

Snowbirds Part 1

 Coco and Caz barely adjusted to downsizing and to moving out of the childhood home, when more home change came about.  Demi and relocated last fall to the Charleston, SC area, specifically James Island.  Two cars were loaded up.  We drove from MA and headed south.  We stopped for the night in NC.  The next day we headed off to Columbia, SC.  We toured around Coco's new off campus apartment complex.  Then we unloaded Coco's items into storage and sent Caz on his way to Auburn.

It was quite an adventure on the way.  The boys had decided to drive together.  Their idea, not ours.  Coco drew the short straw, driving the shift which took us over the GW.  Even during a pandemic, the GW is terrible to cross.  They helped each other though.  Caz kept us in sight, spotted for Coco, and provided direction.  Coco white knuckled it the whole time.  He was a sweaty mess when he got out.  Caz went next and shortly after getting on the Jersey turnpike, the skies opened up.  He had never driven in a deluge like this.  That is when I notice the turtle shell carrier on top had popped open in the front.  Of course.  Right when it poured rain.  We had to wait a while but finally found an exit to pull off.   Keep that in mind for day two.

Shortly after leaving South of the Border, Caz and I pulled out into the left lane on the highway.  Coco called because Demi was driving.  Caz picked up the phone since I was driving the other car.  Caz said we might have a problem with the roof rack, then immediately shouted we needed to pull over immediately.  I had to cut off a big rig to do it but managed.  There was no real emergency lane so I was off in the grass.  The roof rack was open but somehow nothing was lost.  We had enough room to cram in the items from the roof into the car.  I closed up the shell as best I could.  That went into the storage unit in Columbia until we were able to dump it.

After we split up in Columbia, Coco, Demi and I headed to James Island.

Downsizing

 So.  What has been going on during this blog blackout?  I am choosing to start with Downsizing.  But I will begin this narrative with how I grew up.  My parents wanted a bigger house when I was about 6 or 7.  The bought 31 and we moved around around the corner from Temple St.  Growing up in that house was fantastic.  While growing up, I experience my first brush with Downsizing.  

When my brother and I were in high school, our mother started talking to our grandparents about moving.  They lived in Wilmington, where they had settled down for a long time, after moving a lot during my grandfather's early years with his company.  They loved the house and town. They owned 4.5 acres with a 14 room house on it.  As they got older, my grandparents found it harder to maintain.  Honestly, I think my mother found it hard too.  She was their only child living in the same the state.  My mother never drives much.  Driving from Duxbury to Wilmington was left to my Dad.

I was not a part of the discussions between my grandparents and my mother.  I believe my grandparents looked favorably on downsizing.  But I do not rightly now.  Whatever transpired, they seems to handle the change well.  All of them seem to agree that their new home would be close to Duxbury.  My grandparents didn't want to live in Florida or New York, by my Aunt or Uncle.  My Dad was always doing things for them, along with my mother.  I feel my grandparents realized my folks were their best and constant support system.  After talks and visits to independent senior living complexes around the South Shore, my grandfather pulled off a huge surprise.  While all of us attended my brother's football game, my grandfather stayed behind.  When we got home, he announced that he had put an offer on the house next door, 41.  The rest, as they say, is history. 

41 became their home for a long time.  Eventually, it became home for Demi, the boys and me.  How about that?  My grandparents "smaller" home was our family home.  It was plenty big enough for all of us.  22 years in 41.  41 will always be "home" in the memories of Caz and Coco.  I experience the emotional attachments my grandparents possessed to both Wilmington and 41.  It shouldn't have surprised me that our family created similar bonds with 41.  If I am honest, and always try to be with you, I thought I would die while living in that house.  I always joked that I would be carted out of that house in a box.  Somewhere inside, a piece of me was not joking.  

We all had different reactions to leaving 41.  Caz likely took it most in stride.  He was comfortable at Auburn.  He loves it there.  I believe that helped him with the transition.  Demi was ready to start a new chapter.  She saw all the possibilities before us.  Coco was not pleased.  At all.  Of course, all this started before he even left for USC.  He hadn't made a connection there yet.  I think I was somewhere in between, although, again, if I am honest, I was closer to Coco's side of the see-saw.  Change is always hard.  But Change is inevitable.  Fighting change is pointless.  You can't win.  And it only makes it harder.  You can just go with it.  And it will be fine.  But if you embrace it, you can make it wonderful.

Shady's Back

 It's been a long time.  One might think that during a pandemic and endless quarantine that I would have more time than ever to write.  Part of my time away has been spent writing in other mediums.  I started a letter writing campaign.  Yes.  Actual hand-written letters.  I also have several hand-written journals.  But I also didn't quite know what to write here.  What has this blog become?  What will my sons think of this electronic open letter?  Honestly, I am not quite sure.  But.  Let's find out shall we?

Time Flies During a Pandemic

Wow!  Have I ever been delinquent in posting.  With all this "free time" during this stay at home period, you would think I would have more time than ever to post and to write.  I will have to go back and do some back posting to accurately track quarantine for the official record.  I really do enjoy the extra time with the family.  Sure, they are likely sick of me and of each other.  It's hard not seeing the rest of the family and our friends.  I do get to write here and there.  I might have too many writing projects going on.  Maybe.
     I have the leather bound journal with the imprint of the tree of life on it, which Caz gave me as a gift.  I try to write in that for my sons and their future children.  I have this blog, which a handful of viewers seem to come across occasionally.  And I have the book.  The book has gotten more attention this year.  I made it a New Years goal for 2020, to make real progress with the book.  It is coming along in drips and in drabs.  This blog has taken a hit.
     Tonight, is a great night for writing.  I am on the deck.  It is 9:30 pm.  It is dark.  There are no bugs around me.  Unfortunately, there are no stars.  But I have the string lights overhead, crocheted in the metal trellis.  It is cool, but not cold.  I have the zero gravity chair to myself.  Life is good.  And so...I write.

Star Wars Day 2020

May the 4th be with you!
     I found is amusing that starwars.com was marketing staying at home and celebrating the day at home.  Most other years they are pushing the book, movie and video game merchandising.  So what else is really different?
     I will say that I wouldn't mind watching The Rise of Skywalker with the family tonight.