kvetching up

De Nile flowing through Egypt Leiney is an amazing young woman.  Her kindness is innate, and overflows all the time. She is whipsmart, curious, and obsessed with justice.  It's what drew her to Fairhaven, where she has just completed her first two quarters.  She entered uni with 60 credits, so she is technically a sophomore.  But she has been stuck home, doing distance learning since last spring as a high school senior and is done with it.  Yesterday, she told Jenny and I that she has withdrawn for spring quarter and is going to find work.  I felt sorrow for her, and was quiet--trying to keep my shit separate from hers--after she told us.  Jenny, gushed with pride.  She told Leiney she was so proud of her for telling us, and for being proactive about withdrawing--sentiments I share.  Jenny then said, its just so hard with so much going on, COVID-19 and your mom sick with a terminal illness.  I waited.  The third leg of the stoo...

Abigail May The younger teenager smiled at me this morning. Twice. Our baby, firmly ensconced and clearly comfortable in her separation from us as she lives in the land of teen angst, rarely smiles. She can snark with the best of them. If someone asked me where to find an example of pure teenager, I would point to her. I know nothing, she would report. Her favorite question of me, often spoken with exasperation and a lilt of humor and frustration in her voice is, "Why are you so annoying?" And today she smiled at me. Twice.