October

October makes me think of many things, some happy things and some sad. My dad died in October. I think of taking the kids trick-or-treating when they were little. I think of how excited they were for Halloween parties. We used to always go to the cider mills and buy warm donuts and ice cold cider. I love October for many reasons. I remember raking leaves into the street as a child and jumping in them. I remember the smell of burning leaves. I can't believe they let me as a small child light the match and they were in the house....Times have changed.

Every October Danielle remembers a friend that died. It has been 9 years. He was good looking, 16 and popular. And he was murdered. The town mourned. Things like that didn't happen here. This is the story written by Mitch Albom. A friend of Danielle's had posted it on Facebook for anyone from New Baltimore to remember. I remember coming home from work at night and seeing Danielle on TV in the funeral procession walking to the cemetary from the church. I saw her in her Varsity Dance Uniform dancing at the soccer game. I saw her grieve. And every evening she and I went over and over the situation. What do you tell your grieving child to make her feel better? Years later she still questions what happened and why. It will never make sense and it will never be explained. Here is Mitch's article....A Bullet's impact. I know it is long but it is a really good article.

Should Be An Interesting Weekend For The Rowley Family

It is going to be a Rowley family weekend. Dan's niece is getting married in Indianapolis on Saturday. Grandma is coming up from Florida. Danielle and her boyfriend are driving down on Friday. Stef and I are bringing up the rear and leaving on Saturday morning.

We arranged for a cat sitter for Saturday night and we will be back home on Sunday. Dan can't go as he is out and about in his truck. He is in too much pain for a family celebration anyway.

The girls both bought new dresses. I'm wearing one from last year but it has only been worn once so it's like new to me. Besides no one will be looking at me anyway.

Hope this weekend goes well. Hope we all have fun and I hope they live happily ever after.....

Thank You Carolyn

Fw: At last!
Originally uploaded by jntrowley

This isn't the post I thought I was going to do today. Funny how that works sometimes. I had planned on detailing my Friday goings on and how I went to the gym after work and how it rained all day and was cold and ugly. Stefanie and I went out for comfort food for a late dinner (patty melt from a family restaurant where you get a lot of food for not much money) and then I got the call from Dan.......in southern Virginia in his semi on a dirt road, overlooking a precipiece, in the dark, can't turn around, can't see how to get out from where he had gotten himself stuck,,,all because he thought he would try and find a Chinese restaurant with a driver he had just met. The other driver went on through and Dan couldn't.......

Instead I get an email from the long lost Carolyn my friend that I was able to reconnect with recently and she had forwarded me a picture from our lunch this summer in Fort Wayne. This is it!!!!

I am in the back row (where all tall girls went in grade school when any picture was taken) in the pink shirt. Carolyn is in the front row in the blue button down shirt. To the right of her in red is Jana (we have been friends since before kindergarten). Diana is the one on the right in the first row. I have known her since kindergarten. She is the one that told me the facts of life. But then she told me that it wasn't true and not to believe it. I believed her. Both versions.

This one get-together this summer gave me a much needed respite from my life at a much needed time. I was so grateful these people included me for a couple of hours and I got to relive a more carefree time. Many of these people in the picture have serious health issues . One has Multiple Sclerosis. Some have had cancer. For this one afternoon we just shared our thoughts and hashed over some good old times and ate.

Thank you Carolyn. Thanks Jana and Diana and Debbie. Thank you taking the picture Kathy (You look great by the way). Thank you to Joan for orchestrating the whole thing.

I hope I get to see everyone next summer at our high school reunion.

I Think I Have Lost My Identity????

OK so I still know who I am I think but I had to go to a new hair stylist and she works a bit differently than my last girl. She washes the hair, cuts the hair, straightens curly unruly hair (that's me) and then cuts it again. And you are done. Out the door with straight hair. When I left the salon I swear I didn't even recognize me in the rear view mirror. My daughters liked it. Dan liked it. My co-workers liked it.....

What is really funny is that I can actually do it myself and it looks OK. Not me but OK.

Even funnier, today I just did the old usual thing with my hair. I washed it, dried it with the diffuser like I used to. I put some gel in it and scrunched. Like old times. However, it looked awful. Not the old me. Not the new me. Who is me?