Three months of grief, and my birthday.
Yesterday. The fifth.
Three months have passed since Paco died. Since then, I have been somewhat on auto pilot. There have been moments of sobriety, moments of clarity that come as quickly as they disappear. But on balance, these last three months have felt like an eternity. And yet it feels as raw as last week. This week especially, the weight of his absence has felt extraordinary.
Today. The sixth.
My 45th birthday. Paco would have been the most excited. More than my wife. More than the other kids. More than all of them combined. He loved to make birthdays the best for whomever. Paco would have fought his siblings to wake me so that he could be the first to wish me happy birthday. He would have insisted on getting me a giant birthday balloon from Dollar Tree, and would not let the sun set without surprising me with a cake. “Dad, stay in your bedroom while we make a surprise cake for you.”
Lucia and the kids did well to make the day feel joyous as they could. We ordered breakfast burritos for delivery. I took the kids to the movies—a reshowing of The Bad Guys (2018)—and got some tacos for lunch. Before dinner, we went to do indoor mini golf. And yeah, they got balloons. Four of them. He is not forgotten.
My cake says “145” because of a running joke. My dad always added a hundred to his age when I was a kid. I started doing it to my kids. They all know the truth by now, but it’s the still the running gag in the family about “dad’s old.”
🎵 Her first time with Ella… ★★★★★
This is how you round out Christmas Day.
Yesterady was The Game. And while the Buckeyes didn’t win, we had a good time out with the kids
Classes start this week, students are all moved in. The gym was full. I caught a glimpse of the swim team getting ready for practice.
Spent the morning (re)learning some things.
Seeing Hamilton is as good as reason as any to teach your 8yo how to tie a tie. No more clip-ons or zipper ties for this kid. (Bow tie is legit too, btw.)
Happy monday, folks 📷
Lot of folks ask, how hot is it in Arizona? Well, it’s nard to say. I mean, you get used it. But…
You guys! I don’t pickleball is coming in Spring 2024.
44 rotations around the sun. (It was yearerday, but I always give D-Day pride of place, especially this year, 80 years since.) I have this running joke with the kids that I’m 100+my real age, hence the numbers on the cake.
Monday vibes
Sunday vibes.
I was in Washington earlier this week. The view as we left in a light rain and fog was splendid.
Perils (and joys) of homeownership. 25+ year old oven finally dies, 4 years into my ownership. But the 25+ year old cabinents were not built to spec, and required some attention to fit the new one. (The new one cooks much better.)
It arrived early! @ayjay did a marvelous job. Beautiful layout, typography, binding. Looking forward to a good slow read of it just as classes and the hectic pace of finals ends.
Been a while since I’ve had an afternoon coffee and just read. (In this case, to prep for my class tomorrow.) ☕️ 📚
Breakfast of champions. 📷
