A family update

A lot can happen in three plus years.

My divorce became final on my birthday, the exact day I turned 40. Who says she never gets me anything?

Seriously, Leah and I had been very civil during the process to the point where we took care of everything ourselves and never got a single lawyer involved. We already agreed on the major things, so we didn’t need a 3rd party to figure the small stuff out. We thought that would just be a waste of money, funds we’d rather spend our the boys..

Speaking of those boys… they are growing like weeds. Feels like yesterday I was posting entries about their births here on OD and now they’re going on 14 and 12. Damn, that was fast.

Ethan started high school last month, and I was more scared about it than he was. My high school years were not that memorable, and it was hell for me so naturally I’m afraid for my little guy, but I’m please to report he’s doing a1right. He’s in a good school, one that is small and not overbearing, and he’s got a great support system there too. He’s going to be alright and I need to relax and not panic.

Jonathan is doing about as well as we can expect him to. He’s in a special classroom for autistic kids, and has been making great verbal progress and is more active and social than before. It’s a slow process but we’re seeing improvements all the time.

The biggest change in the last few years came from my immediate family. Almost a year ago, my mother passed away. September of last year, my mother fell and broke her hip. During surgery to repair it, she suffered a major stroke and a heart attack at the same time. She never fully recovered from that and passed a month later. We all managed to fly to Nashville to see her before she passed. She had two services, and in her hometown here in Hamilton over 250 people showed up for a small memorial we had put together. Even an Uncle on her side I hadn’t seen in 25 years showed up to pay his respects.

Less than several months after her passing, my Dad retired and sold the house in Nashville. So that means my days in Tennessee have come to a close and we’re moving on to other states to make memories. My Dad has decided to become a snow bird, which means he’ll spend half a year here in Canada, spending time with the grandkids and what not, and then spends the other half of the year (most likely winter) south in the US where it’s warmer.

My Dad bought a small place in Florida, and that’s going be his home for half of his time. It’s a nice location, right smack dab between Orlando and Tampa… which makes it ideal for visiting. I’ve already booked my first trip to visit him in a few months, take in the nice weather while it’s freezing up here in Canada. I’m also going to go back in March so I can catch a few Blue Jay spring training games. Why not, right?

My brothers are doing well, but I don’t see them as much as I’d like to. I’ll try a little more to hang out with them but sometimes it’s hard to get our schedules to mesh. With Dad in town half the time now, that might be a little easier to work around if he’s around.

So that’s what’s been going on with my family over the last few years. For the most part we are getting by, and are looking forward to good times ahead! I’m just looking forward to spending this coming holiday in Florida, where I can get a tan instead of frostbite.

Cheers,

Peter