We learned today that the sister, Sinead, of my brother’s wife, Marie, lost her struggle against cancer. Some people leave an indelible impression on you due to the beauty of their spirit. Sinead was such a woman and although we only met her a few times I cannot describe the deep sense of loss that Jeanine and I feel at this moment. Mark, Marie and their kids are in Ireland where they attended her funeral earlier this week and will spread her ashes at sea this weekend. Her service was attended by some 1500 people which should provide some measure of the degree to which she was cherished in this world. Our thoughts are with Marie, Mark, Mario, Rory, Sophia, Rose and the entire Kavanagh family.
Kyle left this evening for New Hampshire where he will be working over the weekend. Maya has another week to go at camp. Nico will return from Nantucket on Sunday and sent this photo he took on the beach. Jeanine and I are enjoying the peace and quite but are admittedly missing our babies. With the van sold, Jeanine is starting to get serious about a replacement vehicle and did some test drives today. We will probably spend some time over the weekend checking out different brands.
When he discovered girls, he became irresistable. He is a man now, and next year at this time, he will be getting ready to leave the nest for college. I fear that day will come all too quickly, and I want to cherish every day with him from now until then.
Today I met with Nora Micheva, the MIT graduate student I am mentoring as part of the Gordon Engineering Leadership program. She is currently preparing her Master’s thesis while working at Analog Devices and will graduate next spring. She is an electrical engineer and has expressed an interest in possibly working at iRobot after she earns her degree. I enjoyed giving her a brief tour of the iRobot museum and comparing notes on our respective exploits over the last several months. Here she is in a recent video interview with MIT Tech TV (link).
Yesterday Jeanine returned from Oklahoma where she spent the last week with her closest childhood friend, Kris Earle, pictured here atop one of her horses. The two spent hours gardening together and gathering peaches and blueberries and turning them into yummy things, some of which made their way in the form of preserves back to Concord. Jeanine returned with a nourished soul.
Nicolai has been sleeping away most mornings on this summer vacation. Today he did not appear too happy at 5:50AM while waiting to be picked up by a friends family with which he will spend the next week at their summer home on Nantucket. Despite the mood captured in this photo, Nico is thrilled for this opportunity and has been looking forward to spending time with his friends.
Although I enjoyed observing the marine life, I took even more pleasure from watching the boys interact. It is not often these days that they spend time with each other absent the presence of their friends or electronic entertainment. Kyle spent a large part of the weekend working and is tired and hungry. Both boys required feeding before and after the aquarium visit. We ate at Quincy Market and lingered to enjoy a street artist.
To the utter dismay of their mother, who returns from Oklahoma tomorrow, the boys elected to go to the Boston Aquarium for a boy’s night out. Jeanine constantly strives to expose the kids to educational and cultural enrichment opportunities often to her total consternation. Although the boys have grown up a lot since their last visit, they remained quite enthusiastic about the penguins, jelly fish, sharks, giant octopus and harbor seals.
Jeanine normally retrieves the mail from our box and it is not something I am in the habit of doing. This morning I was delighted to find two letters from Maya which arrived earlier this week describing life at camp . Both contain requests for a hair brush and the second a plea for skin moisturizer. Pictured here is a care package prepared by the boys and I which in addition to the requested items includes a letter from each of us and several delectable contraband items.
In an effort to start preparing for the fall soccer season I did a 14 mile bike ride while enjoying an absolutely perfect summer day. My knee is still bothering me a little and I am hoping it will be ready in 4 weeks. The one way distance to work is 11 miles and I have been toying with the idea of making the commute on bike. We shall see.
Nico now has his driving permit and offers to chauffeur me at every chance. We practiced a three point turn and did two passes on the very intimidating Concord rotary before going out together for dinner.
This website is dedicated to sharing, with family and friends, the day-to-day adventures of the Calabria family.
