2021 Life Logs, Day 21: Happy Birthday to Sam
Date: Thursday, January 21, 2021
Weather: A Mix of Sun and Clouds, A Few Snowflakes; High 38, Low 29 Degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I woke up this morning feeling an unbelievable sense of relief that there is a new administration in Washington, but it was almost as if I had an inauguration hangover. Was this really true? Are Joe Biden and Kamala Harris really our new President and Vice President? Or was I dreaming? I shook my head and turned on the TV to make sure all was well. Whew! It is not a dream.
I started my day with my exercise and walking rituals, watched a couple of docu-series, and before I knew it, it was almost time to go pick up Ollie at the end of the school day. A little before that, I got a phone call from Heather preparing me for some bad news Sam’s received today, on his 14th birthday. This is a remote school week for Jonah and Sam, so Sam was at his friend Robert’s today. Sam and Robert are both drummers and had both just submitted their video auditions for the position of drummer for the high school jazz band next year. Yes. Sam is going to be in high school. They found out today that Robert got the position. It was unfortunate that this news had to come on Sam’s birthday. He is disappointed but seems to be handling it okay. But then tonight when I went over for Sam’s birthday dinner, there was more bad news. Just before dinner, Ollie went up to feed the guinea pigs and came back downstairs saying Jonah’s guinea pig, Max, was laying on his side. Heather and Jed headed upstairs while Sam and I stayed in the kitchen. The news we heard was not good. Max was obviously struggling to stay alive. At first Jonah headed to his bedroom, but then he decided he wanted to say goodbye to Max. He was a brave little boy and held his guinea pig and then everyone came down to the dining room. Max was resting for a bit and Heather kept going to check on him. None of really felt like eating dinner, but Sam heated up pieces of the duck breast that he loves so much and he ate standing up in the kitchen. Heather came down to try and get Jonah to eat. And eventually, Ollie, Heather, Jed, and I ate a little. But there was no sit down celebratory dinner. Sam opened a couple of presents and that distracted Jonah for a bit. Eventually, Heather took Jonah back upstairs and when she came back, she announced that Max had died. When Jonah rejoined us, Sam cut his own birthday cake and brought Jonah the first piece. Brothers can fight like crazy, but in a time of need, they are there for each other. And even though Sam had a very disappointing day and his birthday dinner was derailed, he handled it all really well and did enjoy opening the remainder of his birthday gifts at the end of the evening. So Happy Birthday, Sam. So hard to believe my first born grandchild is 14 years old!
