Hamlet and taquitos

Oh, it's good to be with the fam again.

I fell right back into the old routine, although there was no dinner to be had. Enter the microwave taquitos I found in the freezer. We call that gourmet.

Then my sister was working on her essay for Hamlet and wanted help editing it, so I slipped back into one of my favorite roles as tutor/editor. We had fun going over it. She was quite happy that her older sister is a) an English major and b) really into that particular play. I'm going to go watch her sing with her choir (my old choir *sniff*) tomorrow. My brother's coming home soon, too, and we'll put up the tree and decorate the house on Sunday.

Good luck to all as this massive storm rolls in. Everyone be safe and don't get hit by falling trees or anything. That would be painful. And potentially messy.

I'm feeling a little sad though (I try not to dwell on these thoughts too much, but...) tomorrow, as I go to Pacific Place to watch my sister in the HNA choir, I will be acutely aware of the last time I did so. Last year I went and chatted with and caught up with many old friends, including and especially my darling friend Kristin. Mr. Wadleigh actually hauled her and me up onto the stage as the former choir presidents and VE (vocal ensemble) alumnae to sing one last refrain as a choir. I think we sang "Under the Mistletoe," a cheesey and hilarious carol.

It was one of the most beautiful Christmas memories I have.

And in the year between then and now, Kristin died. And I miss her terribly. Christmas Day will mark eight months since her death. It also would have been her 22nd birthday.

So, going back to the same place and event where I last saw her, sang with her, spoke to her, hugged her, and told her that I loved her tomorrow, her absence will affect us all. Which is all the more reason to go, but still. I think of her every day, and it's hard to be reminded of a loss by returning to the places you went with someone you loved so much.