Not Terribly Eloquent, But Definitely Sincere

I have a million and one things to do, so, naturally, I just gave my kitchen a thorough cleaning.  And now I’m blogging.  Awesome.

Today I’ve been feeling a little glum for no particular reason.  A little Man in Chair if you will.  (If you understand the reference, I miss you terribly.  There is a serious lack of theatre in my life these days.) 

Wednesday nights normally serve as my weekly pick-me-up.  My close group of friends rotates among three apartments taking turns cooking “family” dinner every Wednesday night.  Four of us are student teachers in the same program and the other two probably feel like they are with how much we talk about teaching, grad school, etc.  When I think about how little time we’ve known each other I marvel at how much I’ve come to trust, care about and depend on these people. 

As a kid, I was always at least three hours from one side of my extended family and eight hours from the other.  It was wonderful to visit them, but in my day-to-day life I was raised by a pseudo-family of close neighbors and friends.  Joe and Tina, the old Italian couple next door, adopted us as children/grandchildren.  Joe would trade sports news with my dad as Tina generously doled out prayers and biscotti.  As my “grandfriends” got older, my parents acted as concerned children: shoveling driveways, offering help with anything at any time.  The house next door will always be theirs in my mind. 

The house on the corner changed owners when I was five.  The new family had a daughter my age and we played together often—even though we didn’t really like each other until we were eleven or twelve.  She’s still my best friend and the closest thing I have to a sister.  Continuing through high school and college I made more families of friends, teachers, mentors, professors, and directors.

I suppose I’ve gotten a lot of experience with building families out of friends (I mean I have a group of college friends that I still only call Mom, Dad, Bro and Sis…), but I still feel incredibly grateful to have found a friend family here.  This year has been, is and will continue to be extremely overwhelming, fantastic, challenging and inspiring; it’s important to have people to share with and support you through it all.  No matter what happens during the week, I know I can count on Wednesdays to be good.

And right now, I wish it was Wednesday everyday because I miss my real family like crazy.  I think that’s what this Man in Chair feeling is all about.  It’s only been a few months since I’ve seen them last and we talk often, but Thanksgiving couldn’t come fast enough.  I want to set the table with my mom, poke at a fire with my dad, have random/intellectual discussions with my brother, see my new future sister-in-law’s ring (!), talk baking with my aunt, get wine with my best friend… So many things.

But until I can get back to them, I’ve got a pretty good stand-in family to hang out with here.  And we are having Thanksgiving on Wednesday—wonderful Wednesday—the very best day of the week.


Best,
Em