Day 89

Feeling like I have low energy tonight. Dawn and I just had dinner with the principal of Damian’s elementary school, McGinnis Woods Country Day School. We hadn’t seen Mary since long before Damian died; has to be at least 2 1/2 years ago but could easily be closer to 4. I vaguely remember going back to McGinnis Woods for an alumni day when Damian was in 8th grade. Feels like a lifetime ago. It’s weird how my relationship with time keeps changing as I get older - some things from my recent past seem really far away while other memories from much longer ago seem like only yesterday. Am guessing this happens to most of us as we age…

Mary had a lot of questions about how we are doing, how we’ve survived thus far, what our plans are for the future. It was mostly one sided, almost like an interview but with warmth and compassion. While it was good to have such an intimate conversation with an old friend, I did feel drained by it. I could feel the lethargy setting in after the first hour. Looking back on it, I probably wasn’t at 100% walking into the restaurant as my batteries hadn’t had time to fully recharge from Monday when I had to pick up the death certificates. Plus I was a little worn from a taxing day of work - the corporate kind. Not making excuses, just trying to pin down why I didn’t hold up as well tonight as I think I normally would.

Damian attended McGinnis Woods for four years: 1st grade (2012) through 4th (2016). It was a good time for us. Damian did well in school, he liked his teachers and had lots of friends. While he was there, both Dawn and I were active in the school, each of us volunteering our time in different ways.  At one point, we seriously considered moving to Alpharetta or Johns Creek so we could be closer to school and Damian’s friends. We even had one of the other mom’s who had her realtor’s license come over and start working with us to stage the house. I think what held us back from moving was the knowledge that McGinnis Woods only went as high as 8th grade; we knew that he would eventually have to leave which we did starting at 5th grade. 

While we all made friends during our time at McGinnis, we fell out of contact with nearly everyone within the first couple of years of leaving. The calls, texts and lunch dates becoming less and less frequent until - poof! - three years have gone with no contact at all. It’s unfortunate that it took a cataclysmic event such as this to cause us to reconnect but here we are. It will be interesting to see how long we stay in contact this time. My hope is that it’s for a life time. 

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