Changes

I was so tied up in telling about my brain freeze yesterday that I forgot to mention the beautiful Sunday we had.

The weather was perfect: first hints of crisp fall air, sunny with only a few wispy clouds. In the morning, Barry and I took Joshua and Ella to the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence. With families in “school mode,” this is a wonderful time to visit the zoo. For the first hour or so we were one of only a handful of folks there. But as the moring progressed and the weather warmed, the number of people grew. Still, it was a wonderful morning. We had brought along a picnic lunch, so we ate outdoors in the picnic area. Joshua had to be back to Sharon by 1 pm for a friend’s birthday celebration. Otherwise we would have stayed much longer. This is why the zoo and museum memberships make so much sense: after only 2-3 visits you are already saving money, and you don’t have to feel badly about “wasting” a visit that has to be cut short. Maybe we will make it again just once more before the cold sets in. They are open year-round but I am hard pressed to think about going there in the New England winter.

We had arranged quite a bit of time with Joshua, Ella, and Eliana, but not with Maya. So yesterday was her turn. We went up to a local place called Crescent Ridge Dairy where they have delicious homemade ice cream and a few animals. After we ate the ice cream, Maya started playing with Barry’s iPhone. I was taking pictures of her and she asked if she could take some pictures. She took a quite nice picture of the two of us. Not bad for a 5-year-old!

I received quite a few e-mails about my last post, assuring me that my forgetfulness is quite normal for a 60-something, even without a tumor. As I read them, a thought came to me.  The changes I have experienced in the past year of recovery have been sort of like going from 0 to 100 in 10 seconds: it gets you where you’re going relatively quickly, but you're disoriented when you arrive and need to spend some time to acquaint yourself. Ultimately, I need to accept that even after I have settled in, that person may just not be precisely the same one she once was.

Meanwhile, I cooked a pot of chili and made stuffed shells this morning. And in a short while, Barry will pick Ella up at school so she can come have a play date with her Nana. Life cannot be sweeter than that.

Now, if I could just figure out how the same world that has Maya’s smile can have all these senseless shootings….

Love,

Rebecca