Suzy Says

I’m trying to focus on the good things in my life today. I think I’m getting too bogged down in all the sadness in my world and the wide world, and you know I can’t control or fix any of it. So I’m thinking about good things, like the following:

Last month in London, all my family was together for the first time in more than a decade. Being with everyone, even on such a sad occasion, was so comforting. There was nothing but love and support, and I’m so glad we have each other, in our time of sorrow and for the rest of our lives.

Also on this trip to London, I finally got to meet my cousin Les and his wonderful wife, Nadine. Les and I are distant cousins — our great-grandfathers or possibly even greater grandfathers were brothers. Les is one of the most faithful readers of my blog — Nadine told me that when he comes home from work, he gets a cup of tea and reads it, every day! — and we have been emailing each other for a while. When we met, it was as if we had always known each other. The day we spent together at Kew Gardens (in spite of the rain!) was the happiest of this visit. Les and Nadine are so happy with each other that it rubs off on you just being with them.

My good friend Paul became a grandfather for the first time in August. Paul is a Vietnam vet and professional cook — he cooks for the rich and/or famous in the Hamptons from May through October each year — and all-around great guy. His only child Lisa and her husband (I can’t remember his name even though we had Thanksgiving with them last year. It might be Chris, though. I do remember that he is: a. very cute; and 2. a roadie for the Red Hot Chili Peppers) presented him with beautiful little baby Grace, born in Los Angeles on August 31. Paul’s heading out here this weekend to meet Grace for the very first time.

My co-worker C gave birth to her first child on August 14, a lovely little girl named Hannah Elizabeth. C had just about the easiest delivery I have ever heard of: she slept through three hours of labor and only had to push for fifteen MINUTES. Hannah was ready to make her debut, and nothing was going to stop her, even the fact that the doctor wasn’t there. So Hannah was caught by her tall, Texan daddy instead. You can’t tell a Hannah what to do!

My sister Megan started a new job this week. Megan has been a pre-school teacher for years, and it’s a vocation for her, but since she was in England for most of August and into the early part of September, all the teaching jobs in her neighborhood were filled by the time she got home. So she applied for a veterinarian clinician job, and got it. She does some reception work, walks the dogs who are boarded there while their owners are on vacation, and assists in surgery. She loves the surgical part, and when the vet saw she was: not fainting; not throwing up; and actually interested, he started to explain everything as he went along. Meg used to help our father in the lab when she was a kid, so it’s not exactly new to her. She has been calling me every night when she gets home to tell me about her day. I have never heard her so excited about a job. Maybe it’s the beginning of a whole new career for her.

So these are all happy things. Nice to think of beginnings instead of endings!