It’s July. Last year Sarah was in camp for a couple of weeks after school ended and then went to Extended School Year classes for most of July and the beginning of August. She saw the new Minions Movie with us and Daniel and loved it. After that there was about three weeks until school started. We were all counting down together, trying to do some fun things but waiting for school to start. I called camp to see if she could enroll again in the last session, but they were all full for that session.
Daniel was in Spain visiting his relatives. He and Sarah Face-timed several times. We went to the mall, to Build-A-Bear. We watched a lot of YouTube and played Minecraft. It was a boring mid-August. We went to a couple of doctor and dentist appointments, and I made plans to take Sarah to have her eyes examined for a new eyeglass prescription on August 24. We shopped for new school clothes.
I wish we’d done more things. I wish we’d gone to the Jersey Shore that summer, where we hadn’t been since the Pandemic started. I wish we’d gotten together with Aisatu, who’d been her friend since Kindergarten, but who now lived in a faraway suburb. I wish I’d just tried harder and done more to fill up her days. Gone to the pool every day. Made sure she got out of the house. Done…something. Done everything.
The First Year Without Sarah 