What did you do on your summer holidays?

Remember going back to school and having to write about your summer holidays? Over the past few months I have considered writing about many events in my very ordinary, but busy life. Here are a few ideas knocking around in my small brain:

How did we get this old? In July we celebrated our 40th anniversary - lucky us! We were married on the opening day of the Montreal Olympics. This summer we celebrated the occasion a few times. Our favourite was a weekend at a cottage with our kids and grandchildren. They prepared a spectacular dinner for us. We're so glad we could spend some time altogether and look forward to  being together again, on Thanksgiving weekend.

September 21st was World Alzheimer's Day. My sister-in-law, Jan, died in June,  of complications from Alzheimers. She was only 69. Her loss; the initial, gradual loss and now this final farewell, is very sad. We are now journeying with her mother, as she follows a similar path. In August she was hospitalized, had surgery and then moved. As we work to provide her with the best care possible, we often feel stressed with the many challenges we face. Underneath all the details is a  sense of sadness, as we experience the gradual loss of the person we knew.

I could write about funerals and expressions of sympathy. It's always interesting how people respond or don't respond, when you experience a loss. We have appreciated every card, every greeting, every morsel of food that has been offered to us since Jan's death. In the weeks after her funeral we received letters from four different cousins, all recounting stories of Jan's childhood or adolescence. To receive handwritten letters in this day and age is a wonderful novelty. To hear anecdotes about a departed loved one is a real gift. I've come to realize that it really doesn't matter if you dash off that sympathy card in the first week after a friend experiences a loss. Those first weeks after a death are so busy, you don't really have time to appreciate all the cards. Those sent a month or two later actually get more attention.

Then there was our trip to Nova Scotia. The Cabot Trail was as spectacular as ever, Too bad we didn't plan that trip out farther in advance. Did we really think all those Bed and Breakfast places were just sitting idle, waiting for us? Turns out we were part of a huge wave of tourists in the area. The bonus of this visit was having Brendan as our tour guide.

Food - Although I hate facing the end of summer, I have to admit that this is the best time of year for eating. We are lucky enough to live close to an outdoor market. It's a pleasure to be able to buy fresh produce from the people that actually grow it. I know that we are paying a bit more than in the grocery stores but I'd rather support these people who are out there, in all kinds of weather, all day long. I will spend enough time in boring grocery stores the rest of the year. You simply cannot beat the taste of the corn that we get there!

The U.S. election - Happily, we were at a cottage with no TV during the Republican Convention so we didn't hear any of those speeches. The following week we were back home and watched a lot of the Democratic Convention. Call me corny, but hearing so many of those speeches restored my faith in the U.S. There were some truly inspiring  messages. Two of my favourites were from Rev. William Barber, President of the North Carolina NAACP, and  Khzir Khan, the father of a U.S. Muslim soldier. who was killed in combat.The calibre of these speakers is simply outstanding.

And yet last night, I heard a political commentator say that in tonight's debate, if Trump is even able to string together a few coherent sentences, he will have had a great night!? It's an unbelievable situation. It's going to be an interesting evening for sure.

Of course no comment on my summer can escape some notice about our adorable grandchildren. We feel so fortunate to have them in our lives. On our most recent visit we went for a "night walk" with them. Actually it was a bike (trike) ride. There is simply nothing to match the joy and wonder of experiencing a child's happiness. I loved walking behind Avery and watching him happily biking along and then stopping to jump three or four times in every puddle we came across. There are no commercials for that, no way to plan it out, but those everyday experiences with a young child are priceless.

So, I may go back and explore some of these ideas in more detail later. Or not. For now, I will post something I wrote about September, Grade Nine angst, and the Monkees.