Winter 2023

Truly a singular winter for us this year.  Indeed it’s hard to remember much of it.  Josef was a remarkably happy boy. His family, his classmates, his teachers and the school really held him close.  School families signed up for various carpool and playdate duties, such that he was almost never without a fun friend to play with–which is the thing he loves most.  Grammannette stayed with us and she and Gramheart kept our household afloat while I entered into tax season.

I made all my clients aware that I would need to work reduced hours this season, and to expect delays; of course they all understood.  The result was oddly the least stressful season I ever had.  I simply had zero concern about my work and devoted as much time as I needed to taking care of my own well-being.  Imagine that!  What a way to live!  I actually learned a lot from that experience and hope to take some of that wisdom forward into the future.

Of course what was lacking in work-stress was more than made up for by the incredible feeling of loss and confusion that I lived with each day.  I often found the best course of action was to hole up in basement lounge with a bottle of bourbon and a hockey match.  I don’t think a day went by that I didn’t contemplate selling everything I owned and abandoning my practice to just wander the backroads of the earth with a knapsack on my back.  But of course Josef kept me tethered to reality, and honestly was just about the only person I could be around and feel OK.

Josef became so self-sufficient this winter!  Perhaps a coincidence, perhaps out of necessity, but the timing of it was poignant.  He was quite happy to be left alone to amuse himself, often drawing reading or listening to music.  We have a land line and so does a neighborhood schoolmate, so they would call each other and arrange their own play time.  After 9 years of being joined at the hip it took so getting used to!  But it was also most welcome.

We held Rachael’s memorial at a beautiful historic home in the Laurelhurst neighborhood of Portland, and she would have really loved it.  So many good friends and dear family, many people fitting both categories.  It was a really special day filled with love sorrow and joy.  In true Rachael fashion we ended the event with a raging dancing party.