Celebrations & Sorrows

The last month & a half have felt like some of the longest weeks of my life. Some beautiful celebrations, some devastating sorrows. I can’t believe the time has gone by both so fast & so slow. I function best chronologically, so…

Right before school ended for the holidays, we all attended Will's Varsity football banquet = certainly celebration + sorrow:

[Me & Marcee (Bryce's mom) + Will & Bryce]

On the night of Annelise’s last wrestling match, I came down with the worst cold ever. Not Omicron – thank goodness – but literally 21 full days of cough & congestion, over the holidays & entire school break. At least we really had no big plans with anyone (thanks, Omicron awareness?) and since StudioSmile is all from home, thankfully I never had to miss teaching a class.

It made my heart happy that the kids still kept their gingerbread house tradition, this year as sophomores & seniors with Carly & Trey again:

And Annelise & I made chocolate-covered cherry cookies = our singular requisite Christmas bake: 

We didn’t take a single picture on Christmas Day. We also consciously, sadly decided to forgo our traditional Christmas Eve candlelight service, because our church was not taking any Covid precautions, I was actively fighting something, & the kids weren’t boosted, yet, at that point. We went instead to this adorable dessert place in Chinatown that we hadn’t been to in 2 years (Tracey, I thought about your Christmas Eve dessert tradition!!!) where we reveled as the only family in the place before closing! One of their employees transformed into a masked Santa for us, and they even turned on a fake snow machine for cute pictures!!! (It was 80°F outside = bliss! Can you see the faux snow against the black, starting at the tops of the pics?)

For Christmas, JB let Will buy a ton of fireworks. I mean the big ones! The professional ones! He put on a grand New Year’s Eve show for us + Bryce’s family & his good buddies:

During the first week back at school, Annelise re-injured the same ankle she had injured wrestling back in Nov & had to miss the first two wrestling meets of January. #nothappy I also spent the week taking Covid tests (one Tues, one Fri) to make sure my waning cold still was not Covid + that I hadn’t contracted it at the last moment before making a trip to see an immunocompromised beloved…

January 8-11, I flew to Washington D.C. to meet my parents (they drove up from Charlotte) & my 2nd family to watch the last Washington Football Team (Redskins) game of the season together that Sunday. Talk about celebration & sorrows: it was the first time we’d all been together in years! My very first BFF Amy (our moms were pg with us together!), her sister (my “other” little sibling) Kim, & their parents (my 2nd parents) Peggy & Jerry. Jerry is my closest connection on earth to my dad (who passed away 25 years ago this April – 25!!!!!) Jerry knew my dad a decade before my mom did, he’s the only person we still know who met my dad’s dad (who passed before meeting my mom), and Peggy & Jerry were literally half of the guests at my parents’ wedding: just my parents, the officiant, Peggy & Jerry, and one other couple! Over the last 25 years, whenever I’ve missed my dad, Jerry has made him feel present, again. When we lived outside D.C. my first few years of life, we ALWAYS had Redskins parties together…so when Jerry suddenly got a shocking stage 4 liver cancer diagnosis out of nowhere this Nov, my awesome mom *knew* we MUST have another joyous Redskins party (while we can.) So we all came together for this incredible family weekend (with a sorrowful impetus, but that was NOT the focus!!!) I sooo wished JB, the kids, & my brother could’ve come, too, but I’m thankful BEYOOOOOOND (further ;-)) WORDS for the blessing of this time with my beloved 2nd family!

They even wanted to take me to get bánh mì & bubble tea after my parents left on Mon:

I flew back Tues to awful news from our high school’s athletic trainers: no healing progess in Annelise’s ankle, sending us to a foot & ankle specialist. The specialist brought more bad news: ligament damage = she is officially out of wrestling for the rest of this school season, and she’s in a boot for 6-8 weeks:

Don’t let the smile fool you – this is total devastation. She cracked this faux smile once for a millisecond, showing that if she can’t wrestle, she will wear long nails. She would *MUCH* rather be wrestling.

It. Gets. Worse.

At our follow-up ankle appointment this week, the doctor found potential nerve damage, so this coming week we have to fork over $$$$ for an MRI & possibly also start seeing a nerve specialist. Is this really happening? I feel like we’re being Punk’d… If she has to be out for the whole rest of the season no matter what anyway, I am thankful to do a deep dive & get this ankle trauma handled completely…but it is justifiably taking a toll on her. Wrestling has become her ultimate stress & anxiety release, and having that taken away is brutal. Please pray for total healing and for God to protect her & lift her up!!!

One more sorrow: two weeks ago (the weekend after I got back from D.C.) we had a vicious wind storm that blew down a section of our fence! Pray for the repairs to happen quickly, because we are all miserable not being able to let Bailey run free in the backyard without one of us out there with her, especially when it is chilly!

One more celebration: Will is playing his last season of high school rec basketball, and even though their season isn’t going the way they would really want it to (today’s game was particularly annoying) I’m still thankful to have a family sporting event to cheer at!!! Will is #3 in the hunter green: