Stephanie Cake

I haven't posted in awhile. The past month has been busy, terrible, tremendous and all sorts of other adjectives. I thought about posting a bunch of times and I couldn't drag myself to the computer to do so. The teeming masses of my fans (all 2 of you) should thank me.

Anyway, knock wood, things are copecetic at this very second so I thought I would run down a bulleted list of the busy, terrible, tremendous things that happened. Then I will write witty things about some of them in future posts. Other things that have occured will be filed away forever so as not to cause myself pain. I'm sure you, gentlereader, can figure out for yourself which category the following falls under:

• I saw the Beastie Boys at the Patriot Center in Fairfax VA. There is a humorous story from my very distant past that goes along with this.
• I turned 31. Don't ask me. 'Nuff said.
• I hosted a birthday party for my 7 year old son and 15 of his closest friends.
• Work became unbearable. I sent out my resume. I interviewed. I sent out more resumes. Things got a little better. It's tentative at best right now.
• I had some girl-parts issues related to a change in birth control methods. I don't want to talk about this, really, but for the discomfort it will cause everyone, I may have to give in and discuss it ad nauseum.

Last, but not least, my neighbors experienced a terrible tragedy. I will talk about this now because I don't want to have to talk about it again. In the wee hours of October 3rd, my neighbors, Dave and Kelly, were driving home from a fund raiser for their adoption organization. They have an adopted 3 year old, Parker, and are in the process of adopting a little girl who will arrive in the winter of 2005. Their min-van was hit by a reckless driver as they were merging on the beltway. Dave and Kelly suffered non-life threatening injuries. Parker was killed. While I don't really know all the details, the accident was random and freakish - Parker was properly secured in his child seat.

Aside from my compassionate and emotional feelings for the hell that Dave and Kelly are going through, I had to explain to my son what happened. While he can't really comprehend what has occured, he knows that Parker is gone forever. He is very sad about this and has been experiencing some anxiety. Needless to say, as a family, we have been brought a little closer. Not only to comfort each other but to count ourselves thankful that our child is safe in our arms.

On October 8th, I attended Parker's funeral. Although I have suffered through personal despair before, I don't think I have never cried so much in my life for another person. While I'm not a religious person, I'm hopeful that Parker is in a safe and loving place and I hope for Dave and Kelly to experience some level of comfort. And, selfishly, I agonize over the fact that no matter what I do, I can't protect my child all the time - I pray that nothing will ever happen to him because I would never have the strength to survive if I lost him.