Despite a few rough spots and the general displeasure that
was Covid for everyone, we managed to find ways to have fun, and found many
spots of happiness spattered throughout the year.
Early in the summer we had the awesome treat of meeting up
with Coleman’s Pan Mass Challenge team.
During his Leukemia days, he was a Dana Farber Pedal partner for a team
riding in the Pan Mass. Almost all of
the kids in treatment are given a team to partner with and the team rides in
honor of that child. One of the guys on
Coleman’s team, Gerry, has ridden every year since that, and has maintained
Coleman as his partner, riding every year in his honor. He updates all of his donors each year on
Coleman’s progress and he’s raised an insane amount of money for Dana Farber
over the last 15 years. We feel so enormously grateful to Gerry and his
team. This past summer, the team rode an
adjusted ride due to COVID, riding over 100 miles and stopping at homes of
their Pedal Partners! They came to our
house, met Coleman, and gave his own PMC flag.
When they left, we rode with them out of the neighborhood. It was a day we’ll always remember!
Later in the summer we introduced Coleman to kayaking on the
Harbor, which went remarkably well and led to several trips over the following
weeks. Coleman sat like a King as Billy
paddled them both around the harbor in a two-person kayak. The girls and I enjoyed a substantially less strenuous
effort in single kayaks but we all agreed it was another activity we could add
to a short list of things we could all do together.
And of course let’s not forget Storyland. We certainly won’t – much to our collective
dismay – we’ll be going there forever. Coleman
starts asking about his annual excursion to the roller coaster exactly one
minute after we finish the trip in the prior year so we were going – Covid or
not. Emma lucked out, already away at
school, but we dragged Abby along – literally dragged her into the car - and off
we went. We arrived safely, rode the
roller coaster roughly 35 times and departed.
We probably said 1000 times over the course of 24 hours “We definitely
just caught covid” but we never did, and
we enjoyed the three hour drive home in peace before Coleman asked as soon as
we pulled into the driveway, “We can go again when?”
Perhaps, best, though, was Coleman’s birthday. I mean, everyone this year was all “This is
the worst birthday year ever!” Well,
Coleman had a fantastic Covid birthday so we’ve got that. We decided to have a birthday party at
Starland on the go-carts this year. Coleman loves the go-carts and its outdoors so
we figured maybe some kids would come despite Covid. We had arranged to have the place available
to us for an hour prior to opening to the public. We invited all of the kids in his new class, but
we were worried they wouldn’t join us both because of Covid and also because
they barely knew Coleman – he had only been at his new school for 3 months before
it closed due to Covid. So we also invited
our own extended family – to be sure we had some warm bodies around and Coleman
and I weren’t circling the track alone. Part
of what he loves is the narrative I shout as we ride. “See ya later, suckers!” or “Move over Buddy,
we’re gonna win this race!” It’s bad enough
that I scream these phrases at complete strangers when we typically ride, but
to scream them at no one would be a new level of crazy. Well,
everyone in his class came – even some of his teachers! – as did our family so
it was a bash really. We took as many
rides as we could in the hour, giving everyone a chance to ride, and when it
ended we sat up at the picnic tables and shared cupcakes and treats. It was an amazing day, and it lifted Coleman
for the entire weekend. About a month
ago he said, “Remember when you had your party?” which of course means he wants
to do it again, and who am I to deny the child?
“I DO remember! That was a fun!
How about we have a party again in May!”
He jumped out of seat and started his excited pacing, repeating over and
over again, “How about we have a party again in May!” The boy deserves a second party is all I’m
saying.
So see, good things did happen! Mini PanMass event, kayaking on the harbor,
roller coaster at Storyland, and a birthday party at the Go Carts! AND we took our Christmas tree down before
St. Patrick’s Day this year! We are GD
Winning at life this year!!
Talk to you tomorrow, wrap this year up!
No comments:
Post a Comment