Colton Made the Principal's List
I attended the 9th grade academy awards ceremony yesterday. They hold these each quarter and present awards to students earning straight A's or averaging AB's. Dude's award was for straight A's. He's doing tremendously well in the honor's program and I'm still amazed at how easy school is for him. He absorbs, learns and can maintain A's without much effort. Soccer season has begun and his first game is February 12. He's having an awesome freshman year and it's so much fun to be a part of it all!

For Grampie
Colton drew a picture for Grampie last night. Colton says "Woa! Ho do you do that Grampie?" and Grampie says "It's natural!" My child completely tickles me!

Perspective

The past two weeks have been a roller coast ride of emotions. My grandfather has been moved out of the hospital and back into the rehab facility he was in last month. He's making progress and, thanks to his strong-willed and awnry nature, will hopefully be able to move back into the assisted facility sometime in February. I have to say that I still have yet to exhale. I still hold my breath when answering a call from my sister or my mother. My sister is driving eight hours back to Maryland today and my mom will return to Vermont on Tuesday. Both are planning on a return trip. I've been overwhelmed by how emotional this has all been and how much worse living so far away seems to make the situation. It's all skewing my perspective and even the usual welcome distraction Colton brings to my everyday stress level hadn't been helping.

But of course, children have a way of eventually getting past all the emotion and stress and strain to make you remember that, even when facing the possible loss of life, there is never a moment that can be wasted on despair and sorrow. Never a moment to waste the opportunity to smile and laugh. Never. Not one.

I arrived at Patrick's on Saturday stressed out and very relieved to see him. I truly wanted to focus on being with him and nothing else. I was trying very hard to "work my plan" but still couldn't let go of the thoughts and worry about Grampie. Then my brother called. He and Mindy were taking JT to the rodeo. The thought of that little guy in his cowboy hat smiling and clapping just made my heart leap in a way it hadn't in weeks. I made my brother promise to send me pics. A little while later I had two picture messages from Mindy. That little guy's smile melts my heart in a way I never imagined a child other than Colton being able to. Those pics of his smiling little stuff brought me out of the worry of "what if" and into the moment I was in. My evening with Patrick was fabulous as a result.{I have to say something about him here...I have never in my life imagined a man could be so compassionate, so concerned, so supportive. He has been wonderful to me since the moment we met and his love and concern and willingness to let me lean on him (and my desire to want to lean on him...much to my surprise) has cast light in a very dark situation.} We had a wonderful day yesterday too and then I picked up Colton. I felt like I could see him again...the emotional drain was no longer diminishing my capacity to pay attention to him. We got caught up on the weekend, bought his new soccer shoes (he made the JV team!) and made calzones for dinner. He even hung out with me and watched TV last night. So, while the concern and worry for Grampie is still there, I feel like I've gotten perspective again so it's not consuming my every moment. I know he will recover because he has to. To quote an Eminem song "failure is not an option." Your thoughts and prayers have helped get him to this point and again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger
It has certainly been a roller coaster of emotions over the past week. My grandfather's near death experience on Friday really put a lot of things back into perspective for me and forced me to take some time and reflect on memories I haven't made the time to dust off and look at in a while. He's made remarkable progress over the past few days and his doctor feels that he may recover enough to move back into his apartment at the assisted living facility. This news was joy to my ears but is bittersweet as well. It means that the likelihood of him moving back into his house is slim to none and that at some point I will need to face, accept and let go of the notion that he will return to the home he built and lived in for the majority of his adult life.
I have been thinking too about the impact he's had on all of us...his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The different facets we see in him -- his humor, his strength, his perserverance -- that are common to all of us but more importantly the way his life has impacted us uniquely. I think about what he means to me and how he's influenced my life. How I wish I could see him more. How I wish that in my adult life I'd made it more of a priorty to take Colton to visit him. I think about my cousins that live so close to him but rarely see him and wonder if I lived closer if I'd have taken him for granted too. I think about my Uncle Rick, who of all five kids, has spent the majority of his life with my grandfather because of the family store. His every day was marked with my grandfather delivering the mail, making the bank deposit, doing errands and helping out. How dramatically and painfully his life has changed and that routine, that pattern is now gone forever. What a tremendous loss to grieve. I am grateful for every second that we now have with my grandfather even more than before. My mom has been with him since Sunday and her updates now make me cry tears of relief instead of fear. Erika drove eight hours yesterday to get to him and she'll be able to spend the rest of the week and weekend with him. For me, her being there is the next best thing to me being there. Our cousin JW is driving from Vermont this weekend to see him too. As cantankerous as he can be...I know that he loves seeing all of us and what a lift to his spirits having the support of his family has been.
My hope is that he will continue getting stronger and continue making progress. I'm planning to fly out with Colton in February to pitch in and also spend significant time visiting with him -- Christian and JT will hopefully be joining us then as well.
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers as they have clearly worked. Please continue to keep him and us in your prayers.

Grampie

Most of you probably remember my post from November when Erika and I ran the OBX Half Marathon in honor of our grandfather who has been ill. He rebounded for several weeks but is now back in the hospital. I'm feeling a mixture of emotions right now -- anger, sadness, disbelief -- but mostly I just feel an overwhelming sense of love for a man that was such a tremendous influence in my childhood. He epitimizes strength, fortitude, generousity and compassion. He loves his family and never seemed to lose sight of them being his priority -- especially my Nana. He has a wickedly great laugh and a sharp sense of humor. My heart is heavy because his health is so not where I want it to be. I want him to be doing his errands for the family store, eating at Mario's, visiting with Honey and doing his chores. I want him to be living back in the house he built surrounded by the memories of his life with my Nana and the echos of the laughter created by their five children and sixteen grandchildren. I want him to be asleep in his own bed with the windows cracked and the sound of the leaves rustling in the evening breeze. Being so far away is tremendously difficult right now because I want to see him, hug him, talk to him...just be near him. My prayer and my wish is for him to be "ok" however I no longer know what that means. I'm trying to come to tearms with the reality that he will not live in his house again...but outside of that, what is "ok?" I guess I'm just not ready to answer that. I went for a run tonight...just needed to release the emotions I've been trying to deny for days. I was running past the pond at the park and as I rounded the last stretch the geese took flight. They flew over me honking and would spread out and then come back together. I stopped in my tracks and watched. The beauty of it just released more tears and then I panicked thinking that maybe it was a sign that something had happened. As I continued to watch them, I was actually reminded that in life you take flight and sometimes go in different directions but you always come back to the ones you love. They are all that matters in this life. Nothing else. Not the stressful project or the challenging client. Not the traffic or the bad weather or the house that needs to be cleaned. What matters is taking time each and every day to tell the people closest to you that you love them. That you cherish them. That your world would not be the same without them in it. That when it is time to take different paths they still live in the fabric of memories and experiences that make you who you are. That without their influence you would have turned out to be a completely different human being. I am a stronger, kinder, more intelligent person because I am Harold Henry Sargent's granddaughter. He has influenced me in ways he can't imagine but that I've told him. The last time I saw him, Erika and I took him to dinner and, as always we had a great time. The waiter took our picture and he, sitting on the inside of the booth, looked at the photo and asked "Who's the little shrimp in the corner?" Oh Grampie, no matter what you'll never be a shrimp...to me, you are larger than life.

Go Patrick!
We headed to Mobile, Alabama, Saturday morning so Patrick could run their marathon on Sunday. What a great weekend! Mobile was awesome...great little city...everything's pretty much within walking distance, gorgeous old homes, great food and of course, the company was fantastic!


On our way...


Patrick's still adjusting to my "papparazi"-like camera fetish. This photo was taken in the hotel lobby. We'd picked up some brochures and were trying to determine where to eat. I tried to catch him rolling his eyes when I whipped out the camera...missed it!

Pre-race

Mile 3

Putting sidewalk chalk to a motivational use!

Almost there. Turns out Patrick injured his foot about mile 16. He ran the last 7.2 miles on the outside of his left foot! After Advil and ice he was moving around pretty well. The injury doesn't seem to be too significant, thank goodness!

Crossing the finish!

At dinner Saturday night. We went to a little local haunt on the water that some ladies I befriended during the race recommended. It was a great ending to a wonderful and exciting day.

Patrick's a huge Krispy Kreme fan...the light was on so we stopped for donuts and coffee on the way out of town.

Catching Up
It's been weeks since my last post! It seems as if the holidays came and went before I knew what was happening! It's been a wonderful holiday season and Colton and I have much to be thankful for. We hope your holidays were wonderful and wish you all the best in 2008. Below are pics I've taken over the past several weeks...hopefully it will get you up-to-date on our lives.


Love, love, love the little guy! I spent last week in the QC meeting with a new client, catching up with friends, family and hanging with JT!


Jodi and her daughters Jayde and Ashlynne

Every morning JT did my hair and makeup. Is this the face of an angel, or what?

Christian worked New Year's Eve from 11 p.m. to 11 a.m. and cashed out after picking me up from Annettes.

Heather and her daughters Allie and Finley!

So super chutie!

Our new shades

Us and "goggy"

Colton and his girlfriend, Kristen.

Hand check!

Me and Patrick at my first Thrashers game. They won!

Us just relaxing

Me and Cade (Annette's son)

Sydney (Annette's daughter) and Terry's daughters (Margi and Elinor) danced for us on New Year's eve.

Annette and Terry...they are getting married later this month!