Seven Paragraph Catch Up

Dear Reader – whoever you are – welcome back.  It has been a while since we have posted. You would think that there is nothing going on in the Brown Family but that is simply not true.  What is simply true is that life is pretty and good and we got lazy about posting.  And so, in a few paragraphs, let us bring you up to speed. 

The holidays came and went.  My brother invited himself up for Thanksgiving dinner.  That was a bit of a switch. Usually, we invite him and he declines. Except for last year when he said, “Yes,” and we fed him until he almost burst. I was a bit surprised to hear from him and I was initially a little reluctant to have him come up. He always seems to be on edge and has no idea how to relax. Of course, our tastes are different. He likes to watch sports and I like to watch Star Wars. He leans pro-Trump, anti-science, and White male. I lean common sense conservatism, science, and believe all live matter.  He likes to talk about a job that I have no interest in but because I did it twenty-plus years ago he thinks that police work is our common ground. 

On the positive side, the boys like him because he tells stories about our youth. Growing up as two brothers who could be almost feral in summer time definitely left us with some wild tales. After listening to some of the stories Grant’s favorite reply is, “How are you even alive right now?”  Their favorite story is about me jumping off the roof of my parent’s garage into a pile of burning leaves.  True story. Confirmed by Andy. TJ and Grant were incredulous.  

Christmas was spent without Samantha as she headed to New York to see her mom and Nana for the first time in a long while.  She also spent time with her boyfriend in NYC and promptly (and conveniently) got Covid on her way back home. This enabled/required her to stay in Tennessee with him for an additional week, much to the irritation of her boss.  Sam finally returned so we could close out Christmas and put everything up for the year.  And then shortly after that, Sam was gone, off to her first real Army school.  She really is off on her own now. I was about her age when I no longer relied on my parents for support. I was even younger when I left my parent’s home for good.  The difference is that when I left for good I didn’t realize it; just one day I realized I was never going back to Monroe. For Samantha, we had a specific date on the calendar.  

I really struggled with her leaving. I was agitated and anxious.  Not because I doubted her ability. Far from it, I expect her to succeed in whatever she does. I struggled because I enjoyed her around for the past four years while she was in North Carolina. Her increased presence in our lives was good for me and the boys.  For the last few months while she was living with us, Sam had her own car, her own money, a job, and friends nearby.  Nonetheless, she would still dutifully do the chores given to her and was a participating member of Team Brown. Not having her nearby anymore will be hard. On me. 

TJ completed Winter Track – running in two events for the season. Awkward and slow, he attempted the 60m hurdles. He never finished last, but he never was competitive for the podium either. The good news is that the coach also put TJ in the 1600m.  TJ continued to chip away at his time, setting PR after PR.  By the time he got to the Conference Finals he knocked out a 5:23 mile, finishing thirteenth overall by second out of the freshmen. He has true talent and if he decides to tap into it and really train he will break 5:00 in the next year.  In High School my fastest mile was 5:15.  I cannot wait to see him surpass me.    

Betty turned 90 this year.  It is an incredible milestone for any human being.  While she is slowing down ever so slightly and needs a hearing aide (desperately), she keeps trucking on.  I love the fact that she still drives, and gardens, and does her chores.  I also love how she will start out on one project and then get completely side tracked for the rest of the day and never get back to her original task.  Just ask her and she will tell you that she is too busy, all the time.  

The last few months had more than that, of course. We have had surly teenagers, new jobs, snow days – sledding!, visiting cousins, Dry January; all transpiring under our banner.  

This is the Brown Family.