Dear Mom,
I think that you would be disappointed to know that I cried for you today. I know that you want me to live my life and to be happy. I miss you terribly. During the happiest of times is when I miss you the most. Today, we found out that your oldest grandson got a perfect score of 800 on the math section of the SAT. He got a 750 on the verbal, so his total score is 1550.
His future is incredibly bright. He wants me to keep pretty quiet about his college and scholarship applications until he hears back from all of the schools he is applying to. I did provide Michelle and Lisa an update today. I gave Nancy the update as well because if you were here, I would tell you, and I would tell you not to tell anyone, and you would most certainly tell Nancy. 😉
Little Chirp is holding his own. His grades are incredibly good, and he has made the seventh grade basketball team. He usually gets home from practice, showers and then he cooks us dinner. Brainy Bird did most of the cooking prior to this school year, but the torch has been past on to little brother as Brainy Bird is swamped with school, robotics and college stuff.
I am a better cook than you were, but your grand kids are WAY better at cooking than I am. I think that teaching them early and to follow recipes is the secret to their abilities. A love and passion for food is also a factor.
Brainy Bird has been looking at the course catalogs of the schools that he is accepted into, and one of them had something about food in the title. He clicked on it immediately. It turned out to be some sort of anthropology class on the evolution of what people eat, not the culinary experience that he was hoping for.
For Christmas, I am going to give Brainy Bird my airline miles and hotel points, so that he can go visit a few colleges. It is sort of crazy that three of his top five choices are schools that he has not yet gotten to visit. Two came on the list because of letters we got about scholarship opportunities, and the other one was on the list for our visits this past summer that never happened because of Covid.
Neither of your grandsons have asked for anything for Christmas. I think they know that this has been a tough year on me, and they do not want to ask for anything.
I ordered a few little things online for Little Chirp, and I think that I am going to make him a birthday countdown. He loves the Advent calendar. I put a chocolate for each of them in it each day along with a clue that let’s them win a prize. Sometimes, the clue is something like, “If you have cooked dinner in the last 24 hours, you get a prize.” Other times it is a clue to a sticky note that they have to find in the house that gets them a prize. He would likely enjoy having something similar each day until his birthday.
I remember on Valentine’s Day, I made you a little card with something special in it for each day in February. I remember how much I enjoyed making that for you, and I remember how much you enjoyed it each day.
I need to get back to focusing on the positive things. I have been feeling frustrated lately. I think that the stress of this year coupled with the stress of the college application process is weighing heavily on me. I have had Roni and Yvonne on speed dial all week giving them the latest on the ups and downs.
I have so many wonderful people in my life that you never got to meet. You would love Josh and Irma, Tyler and Jenn, Rick and Cyndi, Ken and Ann, and Page and Yvonne. I wonder if you would tell me that you think that I should date Ian like EVERY one of my married friends tells me.
We all had a beautiful little Christmas party together tonight. Potatoe got to go in his Santa suit, and he was sooo excited! He is now snuggled up next to me, sound asleep.
This week should be an amazing week. I am looking forward to spending it with the boys.
I love you, and I miss you.
Love,
Me
