Elena 
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1. We went to have our portfolio reviews as required by the State of Ohio for homeschooling today. We have been going to Dr. Holinga’s office now for years! She assesses the kids’ reading skills and makes sure they got the work done that that needed to be done over the prior year. Sometimes she can be tough! Last year she wouldn’t sign off on Sam’s portfolio because he was behind in science! I was afraid that with all of the rigmarole from Mom’s illness and death that we were so far behind and she wouldn’t sign off for us. But I was pleasantly surprised that she was very pleased with how much we had gotten done!
2. I didn’t realize how much I needed the positive strokes Dr. H. gave me today. You know, that use to be my mom’s job to tell me I was doing a good job with the kids. I guess I’ve been missing that. But she thought that Noah, Gabe and Sam were excellent readers! Granted Noah and Gabe read something they prepared from Mary Poppins, but still that isn’t exactly an easy read. Sam read something cold she pulled off the shelf. I was so happy with all of them.
3. Reading my grandmother’s letters from the late 50s and early 1960s has taken my mind off of my mom so much and given me a bit of longing for my grandma too! I am a few years younger than she was when she wrote these things! That is so hard for me to imagine!
4. When I was at mass this week for my mother, a lady came up and gave me a hug and told me that she had taken care of mom and what an honor it had been to do so. That made me feel good. She told me that mom was always pleasant to her and talked a lot about what a good son-in-law Mr. Pete was. This lady also told me that her dad died with his back slightly arched and face upwards “towards heaven.” So maybe this is just how some people die? Would have been nice to have hospice there to actually clear that up for me at the time.
5. I miss my oldest son. He is never at home and he is always either working or at his girlfriend’s house. I just wish they would come here once and a while. He does seem to be healthy and happy though and is applying at a local fire station to get in as a firefighter. I am very proud of him.
6. One of the things I have inherited from my mother is the obligation to become the family prayer warrior. This is quite unexpected. It use to be that I rested comfortably knowing that my mom was praying for everybody and all of our intentions, but with her passing there is a big gap. At least that’s how I feel. I have tried to step into the role and already have quite a list of things to pray for!
7. My great aunt, who is very youthful and active for someone his is almost 90, use to write to her brother every Sunday night. Her brother died last winter. I am hoping to get get his spot! So to encourage this, I sent her a lot of photos of the family and from mom’s funeral. I know she will write back because she loves to write letters. I guess I just still feel the need for an older woman to mentor me in my life. Incidentally Rosie’s middle name is for this aunt – Dorothy. Aunt Dorothy likes to refer to herself as Dot. And so we have recently taken to calling Rosie, Rosie Dot! (although I got the idea from Aunt Dorothy herself, when she called her that in a recent letter! Rosie loves it!
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