In DC

I spent 6 days in DC which turned out to be joyful because I was with J and visited her school and stressful because we met the future in laws.

It was so much fun to go to school with J, see her interact with the children and meet some wonderful teachers. I was worried that it would make me sad to be around kids but it was the opposite. I remembered that working with kids was what got me through those difficult times when my parents died.

It was funny to see the young teachers who are about the age I was when I stopped teaching. I always believed I'd go back, always had a teaching certificate where ever we lived,NJ,MD,NY. Life has a way of tumbling you around and leaving you somewhere that you never imagined.

So I left that experience so proud of J and the work she does. I also came home and filled out an application to volunteer here, in a program called RSVP, that puts seniors (eeeeeek!) in local schools.

I hesitate to say much about the in-laws. I wish the Dad was more like the Mom and I wish it was easier for J (and N). I want to say that maybe my experiences with Alex have made me want to embrace happiness and good things for all its worth. Life will be bring its own difficulties and challenges. As a parent of an adult my job is to be supportive and caring and proud of the child J was and the adult she's become AND to not be too much of a p in the a (to quote my own Dad). I try.