Wednesday June 8, 2016

Today is Erin's last official day of her sophomore year. She's off taking two finals this morning, then one online final to complete tonight and she's done. This week also brought the end of the golf season. While the section tournament was a struggle, she had a great year.  It's so hard to believe that she's only got two years left...

So, a big week around the O'Hara household. Add to that, my friend Kula had surgery yesterday and all went well. Double mastectomy complete, tissue expanders in place, and now it's time to heal before radiation. The best news of all - pathology showed no evidence of cancer in lymph nodes or breasts. Thank god...

Erin and I visited her in the hospital last night. Erin needed a study break and needed to see Kula. It was also a good reminder that there are worse things in life that taking your American Studies final! We had a good laugh about that...

So, Erin will be relieved when all is said and done today. Dan will return home tomorrow from an entire week away. Some fun, some work, but that's a long time to be gone... I hope Sylvie remembers him or he'll be crushed... he loves that cat!

Now I am mentally preparing myself for the weekend ahead as the class of 2016 graduates on Saturday. It is, of course, not how I imagined it would be. And yet, it does somehow feel like I right of passage for us, too. Shannon's class is graduating, even if she's not there.

My hope is that watching those kids cross the stage and hearing their names will spark happy memories for me... memories of Shannon... school projects and sports teams and friendships... the names of these kids are tied to some little piece of my little girl which is why I want to go to graduation.

Any chance I get to connect with the days when Shannon lived is a chance worth taking... so, here's to you, class of 2016. Glad you have been a part of my life.