I flew home to Rhode Island yesterday to attend my cousin Neil's wedding on Sunday 9/11/11. I admire his idea of celebrating their new life on the 10 year anniversary of a major tragedy. It's hard to believe that a decade has flown by so fast... and that with time the wounds of such a tragedy can indeed heal. I have no doubt that it will be a joyous yet bittersweet celebration, and I really look forward to going and spending time with many family members who I rarely get to see.
As I was boarding the plane, I got a message from my young friend "Alex", a student at an Ivy League college and a young man who I would be proud to call my son. Alex spent a few weeks at my house last year on his summer break, shortly before he left for Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship. An incredibly gifted pianist who was raised in Guam, he earned a full scholarship after a strict upbringing and homeschooling by an Asian "Tiger Mother". His email informed me that his younger brother Paul had just committed suicide by hanging himself in his dorm room, on his first day of freshman year at a college in Connecticut. I cannot imagine Alex's grief, even though I lost my dad in a similar way. As I flipped through the 9/11 magazine tributes and memorials on the plane, I could not stop thinking of Alex and his brother. 10 years from now, would he remember his brother in a sentimental way? There will probably be no bittersweet celebrations of his life. I had no idea what to say to Alex, except to offer my love and friendship.
The other purpose of my trip is to bring my couson Tori to tour a few colleges in Boston and RI and help her decide which one she will attend next year. Tori herself has had some very difficult and painful losses this year - some things that a 17yo girl should never have to experience. As we followed a student guide around Boston University today, I remembered taking the same tour with my mom when I was her age. I realized with awe that is was 28 YEARS AGO. The time... where does it go? I feel like the same person in so many regards, but in reality I have lived and learned and experienced such an incredible amount of stuff since that time.. good And bad. But compared to Tori and Alex, I've had it pretty good. I think they are both survivors, and I want with all of my heart for them both to do incredible things with their lives.
And somehow, celebrating a wedding on 9/11 gives me hope... for Neil and his bride, for Tori, and even for Alex. I'm not sure exactly why. I can't explain it, and I'm not even sure why I am posting this - it just makes me feel better. Goodnight and Peace. I'm going to say a prayer for Paul now.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Monday, September 5, 2011
Labor Day Weekend!
Aren't long weekends supposed to be relaxing? I admit that I've had a blast, but as usual, I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation. Back to "laboring" tomorrow, but at least it will be a short week, as I am off to spend time with my family in Rhode Island for another long weekend coming up in just a few days.
On Thursday, I had the pleasure of meeting another one of my StumbleUpon friends, Dana. Dana is a big college football fan and went to college in Montana. Montana played University of Tennessee yesterday, and we had arranged for him to come visit us for the game and the long weekend almost a year ago. Montana was definitely the Underdog, and I am not really a big sports fan, but I am definitely a big fan of festivities of any type! So, we were more than happy to host him here, and I'd even decided to throw a Toga Party in his honor. Why the Hell not? :)
I'd met Dana on StumbleUpon about 5 years ago, after he had made an amazing post about an abandoned house he'd found near his property, just North of Seattle, Washington. The previous owner had chronicled his life by writing on the walls of the home, which was slated for destruction within weeks. Dana had taken photos of the writing and posted them on his blog, with a touching narrative. It was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen online, and since that time we have been friends. That, and also his journaling about his wife Jenny's struggles with bone cancer while raising their 2 young, gorgeous children, made me want to be his friend for life.
I picked Dana up on Thursday afternoon at BNA Airport, and liked him immediately. Tall and thin, with a boyish grin and a quick laugh, he was charming and funny, without an ounce of awkwardness that sometimes comes with meeting someone from The Internets. He was immediately relaxed and familiar. Dana is an account executive for LabCorp, a competitive cyclist, and extremely young looking for 43 years old. He shares the exact birthday with my ex-husband, who is an all around good guy. Dana fit right in with my friends. He updated me on the story of that house. It has indeed been torn down, but he went through legal documents, found the previous owner's name and address, and mailed him a nice letter, telling him that over 5000 people had seen the notes he'd written on the walls via his blog, and that his stories have not been forgotten. He is That Kind of Guy.
Friday night was our Labor Day toga party. I'm not sure exactly how many people attended, but I'll guess and say 60? Most of them were sporting togas, many were drunk, some swam in their sheets, and I am pretty sure everyone had fun. I did, anyways. If you came, thanks for attending. If you didn't, you missed a good time, and you should come to the next shindig. My toga consisted of some old gold lame curtains I'd found at Goodwill that day, for $1.99. The belt was made of the "toga" I'd bought on eBay. It looked like it would possibly only fit a small 5 year old. It made a cute belt, though. Here I am with my cool Sun Medical coworkers:
The only unfortunate part of the entire weekend was a misunderstanding I had with my friend B, who was supposed to visit from Pennsylvania. B was supposed to drive, but decided at the last minute to fly. The flight on Friday night was delayed, he missed his connection and was stranded overnight in NYC. By the time he arrived in Nashville the next morning, he was overtired, cranky and misunderstood that we had to leave IMMEDIATELY to make the game on time. He insisted that he had to sleep, and went to his hotel instead of to my house like I'd asked. Also, as he did not drive, we did not have enough room in my car for 6 people. On top of everything else, his flight home was leaving at 6am the next day, so we would have been unable to get him to the airport ( a 3.5 hour drive plus a time zone change away), as we had all planned to spend the next day there as well. So unfortunately, we missed seeing him. He was not happy about this, to put it mildly. The only other choice I had was to have EVERYONE miss the game, and I could not do that to Dana, whose sole reason for coming to Nashville was to go to Knoxville and attend the game. So, B is very upset, has made some wild threats, and hopefully will eventually calm down. I have not let it ruin my weekend.
Today was finally a day to relax, enjoy a rainstorm, and regroup before returning to work for a few days this week. I am so blessed to have a group of marvelous friends, and I thank all of you who helped to make it a fun weekend. <3
On Thursday, I had the pleasure of meeting another one of my StumbleUpon friends, Dana. Dana is a big college football fan and went to college in Montana. Montana played University of Tennessee yesterday, and we had arranged for him to come visit us for the game and the long weekend almost a year ago. Montana was definitely the Underdog, and I am not really a big sports fan, but I am definitely a big fan of festivities of any type! So, we were more than happy to host him here, and I'd even decided to throw a Toga Party in his honor. Why the Hell not? :)
I'd met Dana on StumbleUpon about 5 years ago, after he had made an amazing post about an abandoned house he'd found near his property, just North of Seattle, Washington. The previous owner had chronicled his life by writing on the walls of the home, which was slated for destruction within weeks. Dana had taken photos of the writing and posted them on his blog, with a touching narrative. It was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen online, and since that time we have been friends. That, and also his journaling about his wife Jenny's struggles with bone cancer while raising their 2 young, gorgeous children, made me want to be his friend for life.
I picked Dana up on Thursday afternoon at BNA Airport, and liked him immediately. Tall and thin, with a boyish grin and a quick laugh, he was charming and funny, without an ounce of awkwardness that sometimes comes with meeting someone from The Internets. He was immediately relaxed and familiar. Dana is an account executive for LabCorp, a competitive cyclist, and extremely young looking for 43 years old. He shares the exact birthday with my ex-husband, who is an all around good guy. Dana fit right in with my friends. He updated me on the story of that house. It has indeed been torn down, but he went through legal documents, found the previous owner's name and address, and mailed him a nice letter, telling him that over 5000 people had seen the notes he'd written on the walls via his blog, and that his stories have not been forgotten. He is That Kind of Guy.
Friday night was our Labor Day toga party. I'm not sure exactly how many people attended, but I'll guess and say 60? Most of them were sporting togas, many were drunk, some swam in their sheets, and I am pretty sure everyone had fun. I did, anyways. If you came, thanks for attending. If you didn't, you missed a good time, and you should come to the next shindig. My toga consisted of some old gold lame curtains I'd found at Goodwill that day, for $1.99. The belt was made of the "toga" I'd bought on eBay. It looked like it would possibly only fit a small 5 year old. It made a cute belt, though. Here I am with my cool Sun Medical coworkers:
The only unfortunate part of the entire weekend was a misunderstanding I had with my friend B, who was supposed to visit from Pennsylvania. B was supposed to drive, but decided at the last minute to fly. The flight on Friday night was delayed, he missed his connection and was stranded overnight in NYC. By the time he arrived in Nashville the next morning, he was overtired, cranky and misunderstood that we had to leave IMMEDIATELY to make the game on time. He insisted that he had to sleep, and went to his hotel instead of to my house like I'd asked. Also, as he did not drive, we did not have enough room in my car for 6 people. On top of everything else, his flight home was leaving at 6am the next day, so we would have been unable to get him to the airport ( a 3.5 hour drive plus a time zone change away), as we had all planned to spend the next day there as well. So unfortunately, we missed seeing him. He was not happy about this, to put it mildly. The only other choice I had was to have EVERYONE miss the game, and I could not do that to Dana, whose sole reason for coming to Nashville was to go to Knoxville and attend the game. So, B is very upset, has made some wild threats, and hopefully will eventually calm down. I have not let it ruin my weekend.
Today was finally a day to relax, enjoy a rainstorm, and regroup before returning to work for a few days this week. I am so blessed to have a group of marvelous friends, and I thank all of you who helped to make it a fun weekend. <3
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