Homestretch

We've reached the homestretch!!

The homestretch of what, you ask?

High school for B. We have an actual chain made of construction paper in the living room, color coded by week. Yeah, old school but everyone in the family needed a visual representation of how close we were getting. This graduation is going to be a big deal to a different degree than any previous graduations in our family because everyone from the oldest to the youngest kid (plus Terence and I) has been instrumental in getting this far.  It takes a village sometimes, and the process of getting B through the last four years never would have happened without the efforts of the entire family (B most of all, of course).

Sometimes I thought she would never make it. (Full disclosure, I still worry, even though she has less than three weeks to go.) Every morning we're never quite sure if she will make it through the day. But between working with her school counselor, people being willing to drive at the last second if she isn't up to it, and endless cheerleading and sometimes tough love from mom, she has persevered, and if anyone deserves that diploma at the end of all this, it will be B.

What's up next for her? A little bit of travel, getting her wisdom teeth out, and then working and saving up for a car. College has been postponed until her mental health is more stable. I'm sure there will be new challenges but I'm not thinking too far ahead at this point. Sometimes it's better for my own anxiety to live in the present as much as possible, and when it comes to my young adult kids, that is definitely the case.

The other big change looming ahead (another homestretch, in a way) is my long-planned surgery. Less than two weeks to go for that one. (Sheesh, when it rains it pours, right?) Put vaguely, I am having "major abdominal surgery" with a fairly long recovery period. But at the end of it, I should be done with endless bleeding, among other annoying issues. I'm not sure I will be able to run again though, and going straight into abrupt menopause is not something I'm looking forward to. I'm not allowed to drive for two weeks post-surgery (seriously, that is like being trapped!!) and I can't even do light exercise like walking for 4-6 weeks. Three months off for housework or any other major exertion. (They told me I needed to take three months off work, but fortunately I can still edit a newsletter and write stories without overdoing it.)

Of course this is happening right in the midst of the second busiest month of the year. I am grateful at least it's not happening in December, and most of my kids are self-sufficient enough that hopefully they can keep the household more or less functioning. Terence is taking two weeks off work, and that will be a lifesaver as well.

Even still, wish us luck!