“Dear George, remember no man is a failure who has friends. Thanks for the wings, Love Clarence.”
Clarence Oddbody, “It’s a Wonderful Life”
Today started out as so many have of late…waking up early to go collect Alex and Katie and then ultimately rousting all three kids from the beds they’d much rather stay in (and truth be told, so would I!) in time for their virtual school day.
I’m firmly convinced that every teacher out there ought to get twice the base salary AND hazardous duty pay for what they have to endure in today’s educational environment. And that was before COVID-19 turned learning on it’s head!
(I’m also of the opinion that nurses are also similarly underpaid and certainly not appreciated or listened to as often as they ought to be and not merely because my birthday is shared with National Nurses Day. A good nurse is worth at least three MDs in terms of usefulness and caring for the patient! Just sayin…)
In spite of having three kids in three different schools, everyone did a good job of attending their online meetings and doing their assignments and we actually wrapped up all of them in the morning!
That allowed us all to pop out this afternoon to the Historic Yates Mill Pond Park so that Nicholas could get the photos he needed for a project from his digital design course. It’s a lovely place to be but it’s even more fun when all four of us were wandering round with cameras in hand enjoying the beautiful afternoon and lovely scenery.
This evening, I was surprised by take-out from our favourite Mexican restaurant delivered to the house by Julia at Nick’s behest and a cheesecake thanks to Katie’s efforts. The birthday cards and the gifts of the list and CDs containing the number one song on the charts on my birthday for every year I’ve been alive and the list of top 50 memories the kids have of me are so amazingly cool and things I will cherish forever.
Then it was time to watch “The Masked Singer” which I’ve actually come to thoroughly enjoy and it’s something the kids have got me interested in watching with them.
They’ve long since had their baths and settled down to sleep for the night and I will soon be joining them unless I get distracted (SQUIRREL!!!) and all too soon will come the insistent alarm signalling the start of a new virtual learning day.
But before that blessed slumber, I’ve had the joy of perusing the good tidings from friends and family on Facebook and hearing one of my oldest and best friend Mark’s voice on voicemail (because unfortunately when that call came in I was right in the middle of measuring out Alex’s Mexican dinner to the gram for his ketogenic diet and then when I was ready to return the call later, my mother literally rang as I was about to dial! Please forgive me Mark…you know I love you!).
And so it comes to this…no matter how challenging or complicated 2020 has been to this point (and it’s been rather impressive in that department!), each and every one of you is truly a cherished and special part of my life that I cannot imagine living without.
You being a part of my life is the greatest gift that I could ever hope to have and truth be told the only gift I have ever really needed or wanted.
It is my sincerest hope that I prove worthy of it every day I have the privilege of seeing a beautiful sunrise. 🙂