Monthly Archives: September 2021

Does he look happy?

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I’m outta here!!!

My alarm went off this morning. At first, I couldn’t figure out where the annoying sound was coming from. I looked around the bedroom confused and irritated until I saw that the loud dinging was coming from my phone. 

Today was our first normal weekday in 18 months! Dan’s away on business, Anna’s at school and Jack needed to get up and dressed so that he would be ready for the bus to take him to his new adult program. I needed to get out of bed and get started! My old morning routine felt so foreign. I kept thinking, What am I forgetting? Toileting, teeth-brushing, shower, dressing, toileting again, laundry, medication, breakfast, pack backpack, toileting again, shoes . . . Tupelo was frantic as she witnessed the flurry of activity. Mornings at the Torrey house haven’t ever been structured since she joined the family.

Once I was fairly certain I remembered everything, Jack, Tupelo and I went outside to the front bench to wait for the bus. We sent Dan a photo just like the old days and within a couple of minutes our new friend, Robert, pulled into the driveway. Jack didn’t miss a beat – he jumped right up to get on the bus. I waved and blew kisses, but he didn’t even look my way. He is so ready to get back to the world!

Jack has FINALLY started his adult program! I hate calling it his adult program — it sounds so cold. Instead, we’re calling it graduate school and Jack seems to love graduate school. He has gone two days with Maria so that she could help everyone learn how Jack works and she reports that (no surprise) everyone is friendly and loves our boy. Today was the first day Jack went solo and we’re all very happy for him. And, for me it was kinda wonderful to watch the bus pull away and to walk into an empty house.

I’ve spent the whole day doing schoolwork, but just knowing I could blast some music or jump in the pool or watch Bravo without anyone judging me feels good. Also knowing that Dan is finally meeting his colleagues in person, Anna is going fraternity parties (and in-person classes) and JackO is spending time with friends at graduate school – makes me feel like we are on the other side of COVID. I can deal with the annoying alarm and crazy mornings if it means that our lives are coming back!

Let’s keep it this way folks! Do your part — Get vaccinated, continue to wear your masks and PLEASE stay home if you are sick. 

Love, Jess

Interesting = Funny

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Life with Jack is always interesting. If you see us out and about you might notice some quirky behavior. Watching a balding, 23-year-old dude being fed by his parents or how when Jack walks, he often takes a giant hop every few steps. His behavior is unusual enough that people sometimes pause before quickly looking away OR giving him a broad smile – we prefer the smile. It’s the stuff that happens without getting people’s attention that’s sometimes the most interesting. If you can learn to think of interesting as funny, it can make life much more manageable. Saturday was one of those days filled with interesting/funny.

We started the day with a beautiful hike in Rodman’s Hollow and then went off to The Oar to get some lunch. A two hour wait left us driving around trying to find an alternative. The Kittens had a line to the street and the Beach Head didn’t have any tables. Finally, we found a good spot where we’d never been with a table for three available. When we got to the table, I asked Dan if he could take Jack to the bathroom. Dan shook his head, “No need. He just went while we were waiting in line. Remind me that we need to wash his shoes when we get home.”

I looked out the window and saw that it was starting to rain. I figured that Mother Nature was taking care of the clean-up and wet shorts at the beach aren’t so unusual. Oh well — we just ordered lunch and all had a good laugh.

That night we met old friends to watch the sunset and enjoyed some delicious drinks and fun conversation before deciding it was time for us to go get some dinner. As we were leaving, we realized that Jack had once again left his mark. Going home to change him was a possibility but we were starving. Using the bathroom at the rather fancy location risked them knowing that what was spilled on a chair was not chardonnay. It was dark and nobody was in the parking lot so I handed Dan Jack’s bag and told him I would stand guard. Five minutes later we were on our way to dinner as if nothing had happened. We had another laugh.

People sometimes ask how we manage our complicated lives. Being a special family isn’t always easy, but if you can have a sense of humor and not fear a little pee, then you can do just about anything. AND Block Island – with all it’s magic, relaxed people, and dark parking lots – makes it that much easier!

We’re enjoying our last couple of days here on Block Island, then seeing friends in MA before heading back to reality. We’ve miss Anna, but this has been a wonderful week. Thank you PopPop and Sue!

Love, Jess

PS If anyone knows of adult diapers that actually work, please let us know🤪