Hawkins 237 Posted November 9, 2022 (edited) Here's a long wall of text, for my own amusement really, and for the therapy of writing it out. Totally optional to read, no reply is needed. My wife and I got massages during lunch to help with the soreness following the bike rally. On the way to the massage, I learned via Seattle Police Department's Twitter feed that the school that my wife attended as a kid, where my 18-year-old graduated, and that is located 2 blocks from our previous Seattle home had a shooting where a 14-year-old shot and killed a high school senior. My 18-year-old found videos where kids were live-streaming while at school (groan) when the shooting took place and you can hear the gunshots. The shooter was arrested a few blocks away at a bus stop. Just 14 years old. Two lives were ruined. We don't know either kid or the affected families, but it was jarring. As a parent, I literally cannot fathom the grief and pain of losing a child, and to something so meaningless. Once at the massage clinic, we took off our watches and put our cell phones down for an hour to enjoy some self-care - and during that hour our 6-year-old had what we think was a seizure while at school. Tons of texts and calls to get to the school quickly greeted us right after the massages ended. We arrive at school a few mins later and talk to the paramedics, firefighters, and school employees. They sent a two-driver ladder truck and an ambulance, so we were quite the spectacle. Ruby was fine and was more nervous from all the new faces and attention. After getting the all-clear from the paramedics, I picked her up and went to check out the fire truck. She got a firefighter sticker and hat and was all smiles by the time we left. We had missed lunch and now had both 6-year-olds with us and we still needed to complete our ballots. As a bit of a reward/nice thing for the kids, we went to Mcdonald's to eat and pass the time until Ruby's follow-up doctor's appointment. We sat at a table made for kids for an hour and researched each person and decision on our ballots. Hooray for voting! I took Ruby to her doctor's appointment which confirmed that she was in great health and a quick neurological test came back clear. We have a referral to a neurologist, which we might follow through with. Angela told me she'd like to go to a nice restaurant for dinner, so I picked a new place, and off we went. We sat on the edge of the Pacific Ocean under tropical-storm-level winds and rain (a very rare occurrence in SoCal, or so I am told) and had some of the best service, food, and drink that I've experienced in some time. We needed it. Edited November 9, 2022 by Hawkins typos 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MacDuncan 131 Posted November 9, 2022 Tough day, navigated well, all the best to you and family! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
