2025 started out like any other year. Excitement, new beginnings, fun times to be had. The first sign that the year was going to go very wrong came in week 2. I received a notice to appear for jury duty. I was excited! I’ve always wanted to be on a jury. Feb. 3 rolls around and I am heading to the court house along with about 150 other people. Excitement bubbling…Will it be a murder, robbery, drunk driver? Oh the possibilities. The second sign of impending doom is the questionnaire we had to fill out. Question 1: Have you ever been molested? Brain….OH GOD NO! Cut to the chase, I was chosen, it was horrible, in under 10 minutes we unanimously agreed and send
a very bad man to prison for the rest of his life. I get to my car and take a minute to reflect. I start my Jeep, touch the gas and hear a SCREEEEEEEE! Did I stop? Of course…in my mind, taking my foot off the gas is stopping. EEEEEEEECH…….F**!!! Do I get out and look? Heavens no…I burst into tears, drive to a store, get out, look…get back in the car and cry some more. I get home, nap for hours, tell my husband, who responds: “Well, that’s going to be expensive. Yes, yes it was. I managed to drag my poor Reba approximately 3 feet down a cement wall. In a past life, I had consistent issues driving into, over and on inanimate objects. Costing thousands in damages. I had been “Duh” crash free for YEARS! Now I’m back to Jeep-0; Wall-1. Shout out to Caliber Collision for fixing her up very well. And yes…It was EXPENSIVE.
Never say “things can’t get any worse”! Because we all know the famous adage “Hold my beer?!” Things in fact got worse the following week when our dog Murphy hopped up to get a treat and ‘splooted'. You know..when their back legs spread out? Well…..Our poor dog didn’t just sploot. We quickly realized something was really wrong and rushed him to the vet. He had dislocated his left hip and they couldn’t get it back in the socket. Lord help us. The following day, our amazing vet clinic All Star - under the fine care Dr. Carla Cloud, Murphy had FMO (big words you can search) surgery to fix him right up. Yes, again it was EXPENSIVE. Fortunately, he has made a miraculously speedy recovery and is back to his regular antics.
Could it get worse? I mean, seriously? My spring break was cancelled due to the expense of my ‘duh’ moment and our dog. What else……BUT WAIT - Oh YES. Palm to the head. Long story short, due to unforeseen circumstances, my 80+ year old in-laws decided they need to pack up 5 months of life and return from their snow bird state back to Michigan immediately (in a panic). Nope, not, absolutely a no go, no way no how. Three kids and three spouses come together to get them home. Four plane tickets, an 18 hour drive and a few tears, we finally get them settled back in their Michigan home. Come to find out, there was no life or death reason to rush home. But everyone felt a little better, so there is ALWAYS a positive to a negative if you just look hard enough.
I’d like to say I’m done with the horrible, the sad, and the stress…. But the title is…2025 Can go F**! itself. All of the above happened in February! Laughs to myself. Yes, it’s been a month. I’d like to say March was better, but we lost a 51 year old mother of one of my students to glioblastoma. I am very close to this student and made a promise to his mom that I would have his back. I intend to for the long term. I think he made a great choice for me to be his confidante. While I’ve had a year from hell, I will always find the bright side of things. Life is too short. So while he thinks he will never find joy or happiness again, I plan to make sure he sees the joy and happiness given to us every day. That he knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt that his mom will always be with him.
Stay tuned for my dentist post….