Day 184

I've come to the point in my journey with grief where I feel that I no longer need to write about it every day. Rather than run the risk of treading over old ground, which I know that I've done already, I'm going to dial down the cadence. I will post at least one entry every seven days, but if I feel so inclined I may post more than once in any given week.  Having said that, I may not be able to satisfy this pledge while Dawn and I are on our Alaskan cruise, which begins this Friday, as we are unlikely to have Internet access onboard the ship. 

While I'm looking forward to our trip to Alaska, I know that it will be bittersweet without Damian. It's been this way for all of the trips that we've taken since he left us so there is no reason to expect Alaska to be any different. I will still enjoy myself, but there will always be that cloud that hangs over me, sometimes larger and more opaque, other times smaller and more translucent. The ebb and the flow...

I'm off to Nashville this evening for a trade show so now I'm worried about catching Covid. Not because it will land me in the hospital, but because if I catch it, I can't go on the cruise. The prudent thing to do will be wear a mask. I'm less than excited about doing so but given what we spent to go on this trip I'd be furious with myself if let this happen. The show is only 2 1/2 days so I just have to suck it up and do it...

The other thing that has me worried about our trip to Alaska is Delta canceling our outbound flight. There have been a lot of news stories recently about a spate of flight cancellations due to a variety reasons but mostly staff shortages. Fingers crossed that our flight to Seattle isn't impacted. As long as we can get there and on the boat without COVID I will breathe a sigh of relief. Whatever challenges await us on our return home can be dealt with at that time. 

Damian, 

If you are out there somewhere and paying attention, I'd appreciate it if you can arrange some good travel karma for your mom and I. We leave Thursday for Seattle. We just need to get there on time and healthy. After that, whatever happens, happens.

You might like to know that Andrea, our grief counselor, came up with a good idea of how we can help people with access to mental health services in your name. This was in response to yesterday's posts  both here and on LinkedIn. There is a lot to flesh out so don't want to get too far ahead, but I thought you might like to know that things are being discussed. Note that we won't make much progress the next two weeks but we should hit it hard after we get back from our trip... 

We sold your Laser to Thomas and Maresi. They bought it for Louisa. She was not big enough to sail it this year but she will definitely be in sailing it next summer. Thought you might like to know that she is going to be using your old boat. Oh, we also gave Louisa your 3D printer. Turns out she likes building stuff. Your Raspberry Pi and the Aduino went to Phillip. 

Miss you, Kiddo. 

Love, 

Dad


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