The Bittersweet Week

Labor Day weekend has ended and Tuesday rolled in on a bittersweet note for us.

Drew started his first day of the new school year as a second grader. He was so excited! We made sure everything was ready on Monday night. New backpack, new jeans, new sneakers, new lunch box and trusty old scooter were lined up with care ready for Tuesday morning. Mom walked him to school and a new adventure begins!

Mom and Drew first day of second grade!

 Haba and Mai's day started with  taking our pet terrier/chihuahua mix, Kirby, to the veterinarian. Cataracts, hearing loss, inability to walk more than 3 steps without falling and the inability to get back up made us realize that Kirby was having more bad days than good days and it was time to let him go to a better place. We got to hold him close and say goodbye to him as he slipped off to a place without any bad days. We have had him for over 18 years and he is now with his litter mate brother, Napoleon, that we said good bye to last year. It will take some time to get used to not having a dog sharing our home with us and we miss him terribly but I like to think that Kirby and  Napoleon now are in a place where they have their "terrier energy"  and all their days are good days.

Our 18 year old Kirby

When I picked Drew up after school on Tuesday, I found him with the biggest smile and sweating so much that his hair was plastered all over his forehead with his face flushed pink. It was a warm day but I was wondering what he had been doing to show such exertion! Then I noticed his classmates were all showing similar signs of exertion. I quickly found out that PE class is held as the last class of the day on Tuesday and Friday this year. I like the fact that on these days I will be picking up a grandson that has already burned off some of that seven year old energy before coming home.

I decided that this year I would try asking him about his day in school in a more "creative" way. Instead of the usual "what did you do today at school?" or "what did you learn today?" (which gets the usual answer of  "not much" or "you know, the usual") I would ask him more specific questions. So, I asked him if something funny happened at school today. It worked. He told me about how a classmate made everyone laugh when he waved very energetically to everyone while they were lined up in the hallway. Then he told me about the class library, the class "folder system", that he had "homework" for his Mom (a sheet she needed to fill out) and that he played a really fun game in PE called "toilet tag". I understand that it is a variation freeze tag and he really had me laughing with his dramatization.

I did tell Drew about the loss of our pet, Kirby, later that evening. I was determined not to cry in front of him when relaying this news to him but, I failed.  Of course, Drew was very attached to Kirby and we had talked to him over the summer about how Kirby would probably be joining Napoleon soon since he was so very old and tired.

His eyes welled up with tears and he tilted his face up to try to keep the tears from falling. He left the room and I could hear him mumbling "where did my Mom put the kleenex?". He was back in a few seconds with a handful of toilet paper and proceeded to wipe my tears and give me a hug. He spent the next hour bringing out Lego sets and some games. I realized that he was trying to distract me from feeling sorrow when he asked "Mai? Am I helping you to forget about what happened this morning?". I had to laugh and tell him that "yes, you are indeed helping me. Thank you Drew.".

So, a bittersweet day passed. We miss our pet and we miss having Drew around all day with us. And Drew has reconfirmed what I already knew...there is a very wise, old soul that dwells within the body of  my seven year old grandson.

Drew and Kirby