Yesterday, to commemorate three months since we lost Dad, I thought I was finally ready to listen to the CD of "Wedding Ideas" songs he made me before Billy and I got married. I remembered a few of the songs he'd put on there, but most of them I'd forgotten. I cried softly most of my way into work, but every couple of tracks he had inserted something goofy, including "The Chicken Dance," which made me laugh. On my way home after a long day, "Miss You Like Crazy" came on at the end of the CD, and I started to cry so hard I had to pull over. I realize it's a love song, not a father/daughter song, but I know why my Dad put it on there. The way the tides have turned since his death hit me really hard, and then I realized it was Natalie Cole singing. Since she sang the daughter half of "Unforgettable" (an earlier track on the CD, which Dad and I danced to at the wedding), it was all just too much for me.
Most of yesterday was better. I told Billy that someone must have sent out a memo saying it was designated Pat-Liz-on-the-Back Day. When I went in to the coffee room, one of our notoriously curmudgeonly professors made a point of telling me what a good job he thought I (and my group) had done presenting questions and leading discussion during our Theory Colloquium on Friday. Since he is a nice guy but so hard to impress, and since Theory Colloquium is generally such a brain busting experience for me, I appreciated the sentiment. Later, one of my current professors stopped by the business office to ask a question, after which she reminded me that I had to be ready to lead discussion for 10 minutes during class. I said I would go first if no one else volunteered, which prompted a complimentary conversation about how I am always prepared. She told me how much she appreciates that I do the reading each week and come to class ready to talk. During the break in that class, I was chatting with a classmate from the Women's Studies program in the bathroom when she randomly said "I just wanted to tell you that I love listening to you in class. Every time you talk I just think, 'yes!'" I also found some great material for my research projects in the Katherine Anne Porter archives, so all in all it was a rare day of complete gratification.
A few other equally comforting and fun things have happened in the past few weeks, so I thought I'd share them, too, especially since they're the things I would have loved to talk to Dad about if he was still around.
A few weekends ago, before I met Danielle to catch up over breakfast, I stopped by the Annapolis Striders 10 mile race I wasn't running to pick up my award from last season.
I'm disappointed that I haven't felt up to competing in any of the races this year, but it was nice to get my first "trophy" since middle school and to be reminded that during a time when I had more control over my circumstances, I accomplished the goal I set for myself through sheer strength of will. Breakfast with Danielle was refreshing, too, and left me feeling ready to head home to tackle another long day of homework.
Vickie invited me to look at an apartment complex in Baltimore with her. I tried to keep my opinion to myself until she shared hers, but she liked it as much as I did, and she moves in at the end of the month. The two bedroom apartment seems HUGE for a first apartment, the location is great, and she already has her first roommate lined up. It has been fun to hear how much she likes her job at Hopkins, and I am looking forward to seeing how life unfolds for her. If I was a 24 year old, young, professional female working in the city, I would love to live where she's living, so I can't wait to hear about all the fun she's going to have. (And I don't think I'll mind visiting her at her pool, which is right on the harbor.)
We celebrated Billy's birthday in a low-key fashion, but the weather was nice, our moods were good, and for a few more months he and I are technically the same age, which means he can't call me old! He also agreed to spend our anniversary weekend attending the US vs. Spain Davis Cup tie in Austin, Texas, which I am really excited about. I've always wanted to watch Davis Cup tennis, I've always wanted to go to Austin, and it's been a while since Billy and I got to go away alone together, so I am really looking forward to the trip.
Baseball season opened and the Orioles are off to a promising start. They've already won a bunch of games, and more importantly for me, they look like they are having fun out there. They have been like a different team since Buck Showalter took over as their manager, and it makes being a fan much more fun. It also makes me realize that one person really can make a big difference.
Each year the English department puts together an online-published journal of the best papers from English 101, which is the "intro to writing" course I taught in the fall. When I realized that one of my students was among the 15 or so students whose papers were chosen to be included, I sent him an email to congratulate him on his accomplishment. He wrote me back to thank me for all of my help with his papers, to tell me how much he got out of the class, and to say that I'm the first one who ever made English "exciting." Maybe he caught me at a particularly fragile moment, but it made me cry. So often students want to blame the teacher when they do poorly, but this was the first time a student wanted to give me part of the credit for his personal accomplishment. Teachers are so rarely thanked for how much work they do, and students are much quicker to complain than to praise, so to hear all of that in one simple, kind email really touched my heart. And reminded me why I keep wanting to teach... which was a good reminder to be given.
And, finally, when I plugged in my camera to get that photo of my trophy, I realized that because the camera has been sitting on the dresser for the past few weeks, I have several goofy shots of Oscar burrowed in the bed to share. I don't know if anyone else finds these as amusing as I do, but he always helps me remember to stop and smile at the little things. So happy Wednesday, everybody, from our house to yours. I hope you're enjoying the little things along the way.
(I don't know anything about this book, It's the Little Things: An Appreciation of Life's Simple Pleasures, but I liked the title.)
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