September Writing Challenge - Prompt #2:
Different
After writing about COVID the other day, I’ve been thinking about some of the things that have changed for my family and me over the past six years. Here are some things that are different now:
We’re done with elementary school.
This is one of the most recent milestones. I’m glad for it! Junior high can be brutal, but I was ready to move on. I don't have little kids anymore, and that’s okay.
Nicky has graduated and left home.
I have an adult child, and he’s living on a tiny island in the Caribbean. He speaks a foreign language that he didn’t learn from me! I’m in awe of this.
I work.
After being a stay at home mom for 17 years, I got a part-time job. It’s been almost three years since I started working. I have to say, though, that I have a pretty cozy work life. I really have the best of both worlds because my work doesn't interfere with my family life.
Daisy can drive.
It’s so nice when kids can drive themselves. Daisy is a bit slow to tackle the freeway and long distances, but for now it’s helpful enough that she can get herself to school and back. I need to work with her on getting more comfortable with some of the more challenging drives.
We’re in a different ward (church congregation).
Three years ago our congregation was dissolved, and we were divided between two other wards. It was a good change but also a hard one. I felt like I had gone stagnant in our ward - there was no more growth for me there, so I needed a change, but it hasn’t been the greatest for our children.
Most of our parents have moved.
We have four sets of parents, and three of them have moved since 2020.
I’ve lost my marbles.
I turned 40, and my body betrayed me, and I became (more) emotionally unstable.
I have sleep apnea and neuropathy.
You can read more about that here and here if you’re that kind of bored.
Some of our favorite restaurants have closed.
Two of my favorite Chinese restaurants and Scotty's favorite Mexican restaurant closed.
We’ve had four significant deaths in our family.
and my brother-in-law Aaron.
All four passed away tragically early.
We lost the last of our grandparents.
My grandma and Scotty's grandma were the last to pass, and with that...
Our grandparents houses have been sold off and torn down (almost).
Both our maternal grandparents owned a good chunk of land in our city. Scotty's grandpa's property was purchased for development, and the house sat empty for years before they finally tore it down. The land still sits empty. My grandparents' property was sold for a new hospital campus. Their home has been sitting vacant for over a year and will be torn down as will my great-grandpa's home.
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I didn't realize, until I started making this list, just how much change we've experienced in the last few years. We've had good changes, expected changes, and hard changes. I guess that's how life goes. Who knows how different things could be in five more years! Fingers crossed for good changes!
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