On September 9th we went to the wedding of Justin and Steve, who have been dating for 10 years. The event was a Greensgrow in Fishtown and it brought together our whole college gang.
On September 9th we went to the wedding of Justin and Steve, who have been dating for 10 years. The event was a Greensgrow in Fishtown and it brought together our whole college gang.
In the middle of August a group of white supremacists gathered in Charlottesville to protest the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee located in a park recently renamed Emancipation Park. The horrific display of hatred was met with anti-hate protesters, all a block from the Downtown Mall. As the crowd grew, a white supremacist drove his car into the crowd of anti-hate protesters and killed a woman named Heather Heyer. The event has been a national news item for weeks, sparking heated political debate, causing our asinine president to make ignorant and mindnumpingly stupid remarks, and associating the town of Charlottesville with a horrible, tragic, and sadly historical event.
It’s heartbreaking for so many reasons, one of which for me personally is the link that Charlottesville now has to this event. Since then (it’s only been a couple of weeks), when asked where I’m originally from, I now get a look of sadness, or even alarm, when I say Charlottesville.
The weekend after it all happened, I took the girls down for a visit with Becky and Ari (mom and dad were in Norway for 2 weeks). We had a good weekend together and went and visited the site where it all happened, which is now a makeshift memorial. The girls of course didn’t totally understand what happened, but I find it hard to believe that I even have to explain white supremacy and killing because of racism in 2017.
Well, summer is finally over (author sadly wipes tear from eye as writing), and school is back in session. The Tuesday after Labor Day Sophie started 2nd grade at Cynwyd Elementary. This year she has Mrs. Murphy and so far loves her. A few of her classmates were in Ms. Henry’s class last year, and she’s also met some new friends.
On August 21 we got to experience a total solar eclipse, the first time this has happened in 99 years. Although Philadelphia was not in the “path of totality” – meaning that the sun wasn’t completely covered for us – it was about 85% covered, which was still pretty cool. Lydia took the girls and Eleanor to a park to watch the event. They weren’t as impressed as perhaps they should have been – Sophie commented that she was disappointed that it didn’t get completely dark – but a life experience for them nonetheless.
We took our week long vacation the second week in August and did a little New England tour. The Sharp’s brought their sailboat, Stolen Moments, up to Newport for the whole month of August, and we were happy to get to live on it for a week. We started in Newport and then went to Menemsha, Nantucket, Edgartown (Martha’s Vineyard), Cuttyhunk, and then back to Newport. Lydia also came with us. This was only her second time on a boat, and certainly the longest. She did great – feeling seasick only a few times (eek!).
Our old neighbors and Sophie’s BFF from Greene Towne, the Marvin’s, came to visit from Hawaii. We met them for a quick brunch and visit in the old neighborhood.
We had our annual trip to the Jersey Shore over 4th of July week. Always a fun, busy, family-filled this weekend. This year Eleanor and Lydia joined us for the week. Along with Doug, Vicki, Quinn, Carley, Mom, Dad, Becky, Ari, and Nana – it was a full house. The weather was nice for the start of the week, but got overcast and rained for the last few days, so we had to find ways to entertain ourselves.
We’re a few good weeks into summer and have been enjoying every second of it. At the end of May we went down to Charlottesville for a visit. As always, the cousins loved spending time together.
Below Hudson, Bella, and Lauren keeping warm with a blanket at Waterman’s Crab House. And Sophie, Lauren, and Bella “fishing” off a little marsh dock.
The girls had their end of year ballet recital recently. My family and the Sharps were all there and the girls both did a great job. Here are a few shots from the dressing room before the show started.