Twenty-Five

If I had to name an age where I first felt like a real adult,  I'd have to say it was when I was twenty-five years old.  At age 25,  I had been working at my first job for a few years and I was newly married (one month).  It was a time when I had many of the responsibilities of an adult, but without the cares of a house or children. It was a pretty sweet time of life.

My son, Adam, turned twenty-five yesterday.  I think parents always see the "child" in their children, no matter what their age.  However, I have to say he seems more and more adult-like with each passing day.

On Thursday, Annie went to visit Adam and spent a normal workday with him at the  school where he teaches.

 I would have liked to be there to see Adam on the job, interacting with his students, but it would be slightly embarrassing for him to have his mom observing his classes!
Having his sister there was so much nicer!

At my request,  Annie took a few pictures for me.

  

Waiting for the subway.

Crossing the street to his school.

Preparing for his day.

Unfortunately, since the students aren't allowed to have cell phones in school,  Annie refrained from using hers when the students were there.  

I don't have pictures, but Annie told us so much about her day.  She loved her interactions with the kids, and tried to find out what they thought of her brother as a teacher.  She told us she had expected Adam to have a "teacher persona" - a little bit tougher demeanor or a little bit more authoritative tone of voice.  However, she was wrong.  Adam was exactly the same with his students as he is with everyone else.  Adam was just Adam. 

I think the kids can spot when a teacher genuinely loves his job and genuinely cares for his students, because Annie observed that Adam's students seem to really like him.  I'm not surprised.

Adam came home to celebrate his birthday last night.  

The whole family was at home.  

Kerry came over early and helped me with the cooking, since she hasn't begun her new job yet.

Ginger chicken, fried rice, potato salad, sweet potatoes, veggies...

and a few libations.

Adam had requested an ice cream cake, 

which I made - and Kerry decorated.

He opened his gifts - shirt, tie, gift cards, but one gift was very unique.

Grandma Alice repurposed a joke gift (t-shirt) that Adam had given her

for Christmas and made it into a pillow!

Adam has this week off from school and is spending a little bit

of time at home before heading back to the city.  It's nice to have

him home with us for a while.

He can take a break from the adult world for a few days.

We will cook for him and let him sleep as long as he wants.

I remember what it was like to go home to my parent's house.

No matter how old I was, the

responsibilities of adulthood were eased

when I was there with my mom and dad.

Happy Birthday, Adam!

My Window - April 3, 2016

She's Back!

I flew into Nashville Wednesday evening.  The sky was criss-crossed with tracks of planes coming and going.  This will probably be my last trip to Nashville because the reason for this trip is to move Kerry back to Connecticut.

Two years ago, we moved our rather un-enthusiastic daughter to Nashville for her first nursing job at Vanderbilt Medical Center.  The distance from home was difficult for her, especially in the beginning.

She got a cat named Fletcher and lived with her two roommates, Amber and Poorvie, who were also new nurses at Vanderbilt.

Nashville is a very friendly place, and Kerry became friends with her co-workers too.

She also made another friend - a stray cat which she named "Little Grey".

He got to know her schedule and would wait for her to come home to feed him.

When I got to her apartment,  Kerry had taken apart her IKEA furniture already.  It was wrapped and ready to pack.

Fletcher didn't know what was going on, but I think he was enjoying himself.

A small moving Pod was delivered and we began loading it very carefully.  We had doubts that all of her things would fit.

But when all was loaded, we actually had room to spare!

Friday was Kerry's last day of work at Vanderbilt.  

Her co-workers brought food and took lots of pictures with her, 

letting her know she would be missed.

Before I drove to pick her up from work for our long road trip home,  I stopped at her apartment one last time to pick up Fletcher and her gecko, Ravioli.

Little Grey was sitting near her apartment, waiting for Kerry.  

I felt bad for him and fed him his last meal before I left.

Kerry was happy and sad when she came out to the car.

We took this picture as we left to drive over 1000 miles in 17 hours.

Fletcher was a very good traveler!

We drove all through the night, taking turns behind the wheel.

I was happy when the sky began to lighten as the sun came up.

It was a long, but gladly uneventful trip.  

We were very happy when we pulled into the driveway at home!

Kerry is a very different person than she was two years ago.  Her life experiences in Nashville have given her confidence and she seems really happy with herself personally and professionally.

Kerry's own words on her Facebook wall said it best:

"Life update:  I'm excited to say that in about 3 weeks I'll be making the move back home to Connecticut!  I've recently accepted a job on the general surgery/plastics unit at Hartford Hospital and have also become the owner of a condo in Glastonbury that I'll be living in with one of my best friends since elementary school...the one and only Melody Smith!  Nashville and Vanderbilt have treated me so well since I moved down here as a new grad.  Since then, I've grown immensely as a person and as a nurse.  There are a lot of things I'll miss about living and working here, but I'm looking forward to getting back to New England!"

We are certainly very happy to have her back too!

Momo Lisa

I sometimes feel guilty that I take so many pictures of my cat, Maddie.  She is a very active, very curious feline who get's around.  Last week she climbed into the cab of the truck when Vance was leaving.  He picked her up and put her on the ground.  She must have wanted to get back in, because when he closed the door, her tail was in the way.  I heard the scream from inside the house.  She's lucky it wasn't broken.  But that's who she is.  She is everywhere! And she's so photogenic!

My older cat, Momo, doesn't do much.  She may go outside for a little while, but she just sits on the front step.  When she's not sitting on the front step, she's sitting on the bed - or the couch - or the back of the chair.
I guess that's why I don't take many pictures of her.  There's no variety.

Yesterday, though, when she was sitting on the back of the chair, she caught my eye.  The light was just right, her fur was smooth, and her eyes were bright.  And she treated me to a solid 10 minutes of photography! I got some beautiful portraits of this "grande dame".  My little M̶o̶n̶a̶  Momo Lisa!