This has been a monumental week, although in paragraph form it will seem short.
On Tuesday Carl and I had one of the best days of our lives. After the girls were on their way to school, we drove to Delaware for a short visit with my dad and stepmom. Then we drove up to a hotel in Philadelphia, had a delicious dinner in a restaurant, and arrived just as the doors opened for a Josh Ritter concert that had general admission. That meant there were no reserved seats – no seats at all actually. We were standing at the very front, as close as a person could be! And because it was Josh Ritter, it wasn’t even too loud at all. We didn’t need ear plugs. At most we were ten feet away from him. Unbeknownst to me, people buying tickets online were invited to submit a dedication that Josh might read during the concert. So there we were, smiling so much our faces hurt, and then Josh read Carl’s dedication to me!! And then after the concert the person behind us said she happened to record that moment and sent us the recording!! And then as we left the venue we were given two free Philly pretzels. If you are from Philly, you know how awesome such a gift was. Earlier in the day I had been saying that to make it an absolutely exceptional day I should get an email with my possible cover designs. I did in fact get that email with possible cover designs as soon as we got back to our hotel after the concert!!! I mean!!! Can you even believe such a perfect day?! The next day we enjoyed a short walk with Carl’s cousin before driving home in time to meet Sarah’s bus.
In other news, I have come to the end of an era. Just are surely as I knew 26 years ago that I wanted to go to massage school, I now know it is time for me to close my practice. I have juggled many balls for many years and it is time to put some down. I will miss my clients and the relationships built over many years. Some of my clients have been with me since 2000 when I started my practice, sticking with me through my Alexander Technique training, and through my maternity and hipternity leaves. But it is time to be done. I can already feel myself breathing more fully and having more space for those nearest and dearest to me, even though my schedule has yet to actually slow down. It is the promise that it will that helps.
Is there a word for the surprise of realizing you won’t in fact get to relive any earlier moments of your life? I think some part of me always expects that I will do it all again, like watching a movie a second time. I am now slightly startled to realize that such a big chapter of my life is over, and that I won’t be going back and doing it again. Perhaps this just goes with getting older and I am surprised that such a thing is happening to me.
Now about the children…
Last Sunday Sarah had her first rehearsal learning choreography for All Shook Up. She did beautifully, and I also asked the director if it could work to have some of the other students give her tiny tugs to help her get where she needs to be in a timely fashion. He said that would be fine if we need it. Sarah did want to be done before the rehearsal was over but somehow we were able to take enough tiny breaks to have her persevere. It is ever an exercise in keeping my own equilibrium, or at least not getting too off balance.
Amy has really been impressing me with how she takes responsibility for wearing her scoliosis brace. I still have to nudge her to do Schroth exercises, but even that feels like it is edging into the realm of her taking more ownership over it. I have been considering locating an old-fashioned corset so that I can maybe experience what Amy lives within 18-22 hours per day.
Yesterday Carl and Amy had a wonderful time going downhill skiing while Sarah and I took naps and read books and watched tv shows. Then Sarah and Carl and I went sledding for a bit. Sarah made some snow angels, but the snow wasn’t the right consistency to build any creatures.
Love and free Philly pretzels to you.
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