Reality Check

I’m in my comfy spot with my swollen feet propped up, sipping my coffee, and watching a rogue squirrel torment our dog and Stealth Kitty on the other side of the patio door.  Pretty sure if he could stick his tongue out at them, he would.



Waiting for our first show

I’m keeping life pretty simple today since I just returned from a 3-day trip chaperoning 150 teenagers through the streets of New York City. Last fall, when Stephi’s chorus department needed chaperones for their annual chorus trip, Stephi and friends signed me up without ever asking me.  I guess I could have been upset that they didn't ask first, but honestly,  I love that they wanted me to go!

I knew the trip would be busy/crazy, kinda like corralling cats, but the lure of getting to watch two Broadway musicals, and see my daughter’s wonder made it soooo enticing.

  Of course in our new normal, there was a little twist ….Joshua’s classmates were part of the chorus this year.  I tried to hide it, but I found myself looking at his friends several times during the trip imagining Josh standing next to them. 

Josh in his school holiday show-2008

At one point there were tears as I realized another “could have been” moment…. I could have spent the whole weekend watching two of the Newmanettes trek throughout NYC. That was about the time Stephi came over to chat.   She saw the tears and asked what was going on, so I told her. 

I expected a big empathetic hug, but she looked at me with those big eyes and said matter-of-fact,   “Mom, Josh wouldn’t be here, he would NEVER have joined chorus.  There's No Way!!!!”   Leave it to Stephi to keep it Real!

“Can’t a mother dream?”  

My kids were very close, so I know Stephi  knows what she's talkin' about.  Before long we were crackin' up talking about the real Josh,  not St. Josh...the boy I sometimes make more innocent in my memories than he truly was in life.    

A windy day on top of the Empire State Building

  Yea, it's complicated.  Josh didn't get to live long enough to dash my dreams for him with his real life choices, but ya know what?  Stephi's reality check did give me a happy peek into one of those disappointment moments.  

She's right, Josh wouldn't have joined the chorus, he wouldn't be up there on the stage singing his heart out, and he wouldn't have been on this trip with us.  

 
 
 
No....at best, my boy would have been fast asleep sitting in the audience while watching his sister in chorus.

Thank you my sweet girl for keeping it real! I Love you Dearly!

You can imagine how touching it was to go to the 911 Memorial in Lower Manhattan and think about both the lives lost, as well as those living on without them.

Remembering those lost to 911.  How beautiful were the two fountains!



Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children.

-President George W. Bush, November 11, 2001


HUGS!
Sherri