New Beginnings, and One Ending

This afternoon began soccer season for my oldest.  His team had a scrimmage against a team of older girls from our town.  They looked to be a year or two older, which made them quite a bit taller, given what puberty does to girls at this point.  The twelve and thirteen year old boys actually beat them 4 to 2.  Impressive.  Official games will begin next week, I think, against other boys' teams from other towns on Long Island.  Wonder what the boys will think of that after having faced the older girls, who were pretty fierce competitors.  Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned?

A friend of ours from New Jersey, whom we met on a Club Med vacation before kids (now that's definitely another story) called to tell us that he'd just gotten engaged.  He comes from a beautiful, salt of the earth kind of family.  His folks are originally from Cuba.  His now-fiancee hails from the Philippines and seems to be from the same kind of traditional warm family.  How fantastic for the both of them.  How wonderful if we will be able to join them at their wedding!

Later in the evening, my mom called to tell us that our neighbor in my old home town had passed away at the age of 85.  She'd been suffering from dementia and believed that she was dying of incurable cancer, so she'd gone on a hunger strike for almost six weeks.  Doesn't seem medically possible to live that long without food or fluids, does it?  The hospice people were baffled.  But at least our old friend is no longer suffering from mental anguish, and her family can take comfort that she is now in a better place.  

Tomorrow is the open house at our elementary school.  I've got to fly over there after work, and be there for various sessions, hopefully leaving by 8:30PM so that I can make lunches etc. for Tuesday before my energy runs out.  The boys have tickets to a baseball game with my husband tomorrow night, with a fireworks display to follow.  I wonder whether my mom's neighbor is enjoying her fireworks.

I'll take a moment to recall the sunny spots in between the rainy weekend weather, as I attempt to prepare mentally for another week.