FRIENDS, FAMILY, & FRIENDS THAT ARE LIKE FAMILY

I made another quick trip to Brookings yesterday for a memorial gathering that happened today and asked some friends, who both happened to be high school classmates of mine, if I could spend the night at their home. They happened to be camping at Loeb and invited me to join them. Awesome! Despite spending countless hours at Loeb over the years, I've never camped there. In fact, I'd never even been in the campground area of the park. How crazy is that?!

I got to see Johnny and Mandie, hang out with a group of their friends and extended family, eat Johnny's awesome s'mores, and stay up late talking about life with Mandie. I also got to meet Kristin. Finally! She and I connected through Pampered Chef a few years ago and know tons of the same people, but she's been gone every time I've been in town. I didn't think to get a picture with Mandie this time around, but I did get one with Kristin to prove we were actually in the same place at the same time.

I wanted to stop by the cemetery the next morning. As I always say, grief's a gnarly beast. Mom's been gone almost thirty years, but lately I've had a hard time with some aspects of her death. She's obviously not at the cemetery, but sometimes being there is helpful to me. Some friends who were in town for the memorial were also heading to the cemetery, so we met up there. I spent a few minutes at Mom's gravesite, shed some tears, pulled myself together, and then we all explored the cemetery for a while.

The memorial that I'd come to town for was next. It was a small gathering for Billy, a man I barely knew, but whose extended family has been friends of mine (and eventually of all the other Ws) since I was in high school. I'd spent part of an afternoon visiting with him two summers ago, sat near his deathbed as I visited with his wife and one of his daughters last summer, and was invited to join the gathering they'd planned for this summer. It was an honor to be included. I'm not sharing any pictures of the family, but here's evidence of the perfect weather we had. 

We all went to Pizza Deli for lunch and conversation before heading our separate ways. I grabbed a quick picture with Cindy, Shon, Devry, and Michael, the part of the family I've been friends with for so long, on my way out. If I'd been smart, I'd have done it when everyone was energetic and happy a couple hours earlier. Instead I waited until the boys were tired and uninterested in taking a picture. Oops. Such is life. At least there's proof we all saw each other.

This was my third quick trip to Brookings in about six weeks (one with Naomi and Tyler, one alone last week, and this one) and my third trip out of town in eleven days (all alone - one by design, two because that's how schedules worked out). So I drove home to my family. And I'm staying home for quite a while. 

BRACES ON FACES - TYLER IS (SORTA) DONE

Another W is now free of braces!! One year, seven months, and four days after he got his braces on, Tyler got them taken off today. Check out that smile!

I actually remembered to snap a picture of his name on the "Braces Off" list for the day. Proud of me? 

I took a picture with him the day Tyler got brackets on, so we took another one together today. 

He's the only W who is doing braces in phases and will have to get them again sometime in the future, but he's pretty happy to be done with this phase. Especially to be rid of the expander he's had on the roof of his mouth all this time. 

So thankful for all the #BracesOnFaces Senestraro Family Orthodontics has done for the Ws!

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for the drying racks we can hang our laundry on. What's something that you're thankful for?

PAMPER, PLAY, & PARTY

Sonja and I have been friends for about twenty-six years, but it's been at least fourteen since we've spent any time together without any of our kids in the mix. That all changed Friday when we spent six glorious hours together without having to do anything related to motherhood. 

Sonja was given a gift certificate to Sole Footbar for her and a friend to have a ninety minute pampering session - heat packs on our necks, foot soak, foot and leg scrub, foot and leg massage, paraffin dip, and neck, shoulder, and scalp massage - and she invited me. It was bliss! 

The time to relax was wonderful, as was extra time after to go out to lunch, run errands, and just spend time visiting. I'm super thankful for her friendship and the day together.

I also spent some time playing with Garrett. He and I built a fort in the living room, which we obviously had to hang out in together. And we obviously had to make silly faces together.

The next day was a birthday party for Ella, so Sonja made a cute (and super delicious) princess cake for the occasion. 

It's hard to see in this picture, but I wore a tiara for the festivities. Because that's what all the girls, AKA princesses, needed to do. What a treat to celebrate the birthday girl!

Pamper. Play. Party. A perfect weekend.

REMEMBERING LINDA

Mom and Linda first met when their boys were in preschool together back in the mid 80s. In the late 80s they became part of a group of women in our small town who were diagnosed with breast cancer around the same time as each other.

Mom died a couple years later, but Linda's grim prognosis didn't come to pass. Three years ago she celebrated the gift of thirty more years of life instead of the five or less she'd been told to expect. Then, just a short time later, her cancer returned and metastasized. The grim prognosis that time was a few months, but she got three more years. I got word of her passing a few hours after she died. I cried. 

Reminiscing about the last three times I saw her.

2013 - I ran into her and John at the Portland Saturday Market, the first time I'd seen her in nearly twenty years and the only time I've ever been at the market.

2015 - I made a quick "marking the day" trip to Brookings when I reached Mom's age of death and extended an open invitation for friends to join me at Pizza Deli for dinner. Linda showed up and it was wonderful to visit with her as an adult myself. More importantly, it was really special to see her, someone who was friends with Mom and shared a cancer experience, on a trip that was all about a Mom milestone. I was so glad she was healthy all these years after her diagnosis.

2018 - My family headed to Brookings on a camping trip and extended an open invitation for friends to drop by Azalea Park to visit that evening. Again, Linda showed up and I was excited to introduce her to the other Ws. It was after her second cancer diagnosis and she wasn't feeling her best, which made it even more special that she made a point to come.

Linda and I weren't super close and our communication was sometimes sporadic, but I'm so thankful for regular contact the last several years. She was a tie to Mom. She loved Jesus, her family, and the people in her life. She was always smiling, encouraging, and grateful. She will be missed.

I was able to travel home for her memorial service yesterday. It was a quick trip without much time for anything extra, so I was thankful for a few minutes to just sit and enjoy the beautiful day when I first pulled into town. Such a pretty place!

I want to share a few things Linda's friends and family said that I needed to hear. I'm sharing partly because some of you probably need the little pep talk like I did and partly because having it in writing means I'll be able to remind myself later on.

* Invest in relationships with the people around you, both intentionally and proactively.

* Our words are powerful.

* If you had three years to live, how would you spend them? If you'd do things differently than you are now, what changes can you start making today?

* Ask hard questions. Have conversations of substance.

* Start at the end and work back. Think about how you want to be remembered after you've died, then figure out the steps it takes to get there.

* Love Jesus. Love others. And the second of the two is easier if you start with the first.

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for the picnic bench in our front yard that serves as a place to eat meals, play games, read books, work on budgets, and have conversations. What's something that you're thankful for?

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for a couple days with gray skies. What's something you're thankful for?