Fall had some real challenges for us this year. Rachael was mostly bedridden with back pain and either trying to sleep or tying to manage the pain with stretching or PT exercises. Her health continued its long decline, which unfortunately had started at the end of July. She just could not find a way to get relief. Eventually, the pain, fatigue, and weight loss compelled her to go to the hospital, and it was a crushing blow to learn that her cancer had returned with a vengeance. The oncologist gave her 2 to 12 months. It was truly a heart wrenching time.
All of this conspired to really diminish her presence in our lives, and it was quite painful. She did make a brief appearance at Josef’s birthday, and was able to keep an eye on him from time to time such that I could go on hikes or river floats, which were very helpful for my well being. Grammannette once again came to our rescue and was hugely helpful in tending to family needs. We all tried to keep life moving forward as best we could.
Josef started 5th Grade and turned 10. I am so proud of how he has matured over the year, and getting back to school always seems like an opportunity for him to level up. He studiously did his chores after school each day, practiced piano, and tried to be a good member of the household. He never let his mama’s ailments bring him down, and was happy as long as there were friends to play with, desserts to be had, and movie nights to be enjoyed. He continued to desire as much of my attention as he could get, chattering on about whatever book or game he was obsessed with, punctuating each comment or observation with “right Dad?” to make sure I was engaged. What ever my personal (lack of) interest on the subject matter, it was always well-tempered by the sweetness of having a such an adoring son.
After diligently working all summer on the fatherly mandate to demonstrate that he knew when “enough is enough,” (whining, bargaining, junk food, roughhousing, etc) he was rewarded with an NES for his birthday. Much to my great dismay, video games have become pretty much the greatest thing he could ever do with his life. I tried to hold them at bay as long as I could, but many of his friend’s families (and even some of my own) don’t share such draconian views. I could see my prohibition was creating even stronger longings, so I figured I would at least start him out on a 35 year-old platform that wasn’t fun enough to be addicting. He received the NES with jubilation and we had some fun times playing Super Mario Bros in the basement. He also got a kayak for his birthday, so I briefly had a companion for my river floats before a misadventure into a slough full of creepy fallen trees killed his enthusiasm.
In November Josef and I traveled to Florida to visit Oma and had a fantastic time. We swam with manatees, went to Clearwater Beach, and spent two days at Legoland. Other adventures pictured below iclude: climbing Rooster Rock, almost climbing Mt Washington, Michaelmas, and a 5th grade nature hike.
Here are a few videos
