2019 and An Attitude of Gratitude

Most of the 243rd day of 2019 was spent celebrating Sarah's Birthday (43 as well!)  And, on 8/31/19, we were together as a family and we were in fresh air (if not a little warm).  And Temple won, and the Phillies lost, but we were having good family time in great sports venues.  I am grateful that Philly is a Great Sports City.  From our times watching Penn teams to Temple to the five major sports (we include the Union), good times, good times.

Day #242 of 2019 was a great day, as many palindromic days are.  Was off of work (did read a bunch of emails) because we had to replace our HVAC System and Water Heater (a fact of life when you've been in your house for 15+ years).  But the day just got better once Sarah got home from work as we ventured to the main business area of our town for the Civic Association's Final Friday Food Truck event.  Usually we just grab food and come home and eat it, but this time we took our chairs and parked ourselves and got to visit with neighbors, family, and friends as we munched on the food truck food.  It was a really nice evening, weather was nice (for late August) and I am glad we were able to go.  I have much gratitude for Food Truck Fridays (and for all of the members of the Civic Association who work so hard to pull these off.)

I no longer have a lot of hair on the top of my head but, sadly, what I do have grows and looks unkempt.  SO, after work on the 241st day of 2019 I went across campus, as I have for 25+ years and stopped in to see Chuck.  And we had good conversation AND the hair that remains is now looking a bit better (well shorter, at least).  On 9/29/19, I am grateful for Chuck, at Campus Barber.

The 240th day of 2019 found me rushing from the Franklin Building, after work, to the Platt Performing Arts Center.  Why?  Because 8/28/19 was the Penn Band's First Rehearsal of the Fall semester.  The Recruiting Chairs have a long list of interested members of the Class of 2023 and FIFTY of them came out tonight (we expect more on Monday when there will not be class conflicts!)  The first rehearsal is always filled with excitement, music, mirth, and ice cream and, as with the events of the last two nights, it's great to see all of the excitement and energy that a new class of students brings!  Tonight I am grateful for the Penn Band's First Rehearsal, and hope it's the start of a great year!

After work on the 239th day of 2019, I rushed over to Penn Commons for one of my favorite annual traditions.  It's not as fun and ceremonial as Convocation, but the Welcome Back Picnic for Sophomores and Juniors is always a good time and, on 8/27/19, I was once again asked to check IDs as the students streamed in.  At the start of the semester, the students always seem so relaxed, excited, and refreshed from the Summer.  And tonight was a great weather night and we had a record 1,200+ students in attendance.  There is so much energy on campus at the start of the Fall and that is why, tonight, my gratitude is for the first day of the Fall semester.  Best wishes for all who are starting their new (or continuing) endeavors!

The 238th day of 2019 is also National Dog day.  And, on 8/26/19, I returned home after a long day at work (good day, but it was Convocation, so LONG day), and who was at the door to greet me??  SKYLAR!  I have said it before, and I'll say it again, I am filled with gratitude for Skylar Sherr (good doggie!)  Extra hugs for her (and treats) tonight!

It wasn't for a good reason, but my sister came to visit us this weekend.  Although it was for a funeral, I really enjoyed being able to see her (in person) for the second time this month.  On the 237th day of 2019, she was able to get to the Shore to spend more time with her grieving friend and also spent the evening with us, just laughing and chatting.  So, as I head to bed after a tough weekend (although with amazing weather), I am grateful for my sister's visit.  Hopefully we will see her again soon, for happier reasons.

It's an amazing thing that, although I grew up three doors away from St. Frances DeSales Church, before the 236th day of 2019, I had only been its Sanctuary once, for Jennifer Allegra's wedding.  Well, 8/24/19 found me in there again, for the funeral for Jennifer Allegra's mom.  Mary Allegra was an amazing person.  She was the mom of Jen, my sister's best friend but, as the Order of Service said in its description of her, there are a bunch of "Adult Kids" who also call her "Mom."  Count me as one of them.  I will never forget the love and support she gave me (and many, many others) as a neighbor, as one of her children theater actors, and, frankly, she gave love to anyone with whom she came in contact.  As was said today during the service, Mary was the epitome of hostess, teacher/mentor, community activist, and personification of Christian Love.  So it's been a tough week filled with sadness and scary events (especially Anna's car accident),...

The 235th day of 2019 ended a lot calmer than last night.  We ended 8/23/19 at home.  Sarah made burgers and then Alexa's friend came over and they made cookies.  I am happy we had a relaxing evening and there was no stress.  And, there were cookies.  I am grateful tonight for chocolate chip cookies.  YUM!

It's a call that every parent dreads..... "Dad, we were in a car accident!"  And, in the evening 234th day of 2019 I got that call from Anna.  No, she was not driving on 8/22/19, but her friend was driving her back from Choir Camp, and they were struck while making a left turn.  But I am so grateful that everyone is OK!  WHEW!

On the 233rd day of 2019, I found myself being able to leave the office for lunch.  And, as I was walking to the New Deck to meet a colleague with whom I used to work at Nursing (now we each work in a different Department at Penn), I heard the sounds of the Penn Band playing for the students moving in to Hill House.  So I was smiling, on 8/21/19, as I sat down with my colleague and had not just a good lunch, but also great conversation and some laughs.  So, tonight, my gratitude is for a lunch with a colleague and a friend.  It's good to have friends you can talk to and trust.

Approaching my 34th Fall semester at the University of Pennsylvania and you think, by now, I would have learned not to leave the house a few minutes late on a Move-In Day.  Yes, on the 232nd day of 2019, I found myself in traffic and arrived in the office later than I wanted to.  But, I arrived on 8/20/19 smiling.  As I walked to work, I saw a bunch of new students arriving to Move-In to Penn for the very first time.  Filled with excitement, anticipation, ideas, fears, plans, and much, much more.  Tonight I am grateful for students moving in.  Remind me this tomorrow AM when I am stuck in even worse traffic since the Main Move-In Day is tomorrow.

It was the Summer of 2012, seven years ago, when the Cruz Family moved on to Beechwood Avenue.  They were so excited to be moving to a community that looked after each other and that supported kids in school, in sports, in life.  I remember the first time I met Christa and spoke with her about all of the opportunities in this town.  In the past seven years, Christa became a rock of the community, one of the best Room Ambassadors of all time, always there with a culinary creation, or a creative addition to make an event extra special.  Well, on the 231st day of 2019, the people of Oaklyn, the Oaklyn Public School, and the Collingswood Schools as well gathered together to honor Christa's Life.  8/19/19 was the day of her Memorial Service, and many a tear was shed.  I know I shed my share of them.  Tonight, I am grateful for the wonderful life of Christa Calloway Cox  I honestly cannot imagine the world without her, but I am going to have to figure...

As most of you know, I like to be helpful and I like food.  So I was honored when I was able to be the "head cook" for our Church Picnic BBQ on the 230th day of 2019.  But, on 8/18/19, it was in the high 80s in both temperature and humidity.  I think it was the humidity (and the lack of breakfast) that did me in and I was feeling a bit dizzy and woozy in the middle of it all.  Usually, I would try to power through, but recent events in our community (adverse health events for neighbors) has made me more aware and, today, I stepped away, let others finish up, and went inside where it was air conditioned and I could eat something (I was staying hydrated the whole time, but it was not enough).  So I head off to bed tonight, feeling a little drained, still, but happy and grateful for knowing my limits, and stepping away before something worse happened.  Maybe you can teach and old man, new tricks.

My friend Suzanne has a saying I love, "it's small world, but I wouldn't wanna paint it!"  On the 229th day of 2019, I experienced this in a few ways.  On 8/17/19, a work colleague who has just left Penn had a BBQ and invited back many of his former office-mates.  It was great to see people with whom both he and I have worked in our years at Penn, many of who are at their second or third departments at Penn.  But this is not the most "small world" experience I had tonight.  As we were saying our goodbyes, it was discovered that the spouse of one of our colleagues went to the 1986 prom for Masterman High School and, of course, SO DID I!  I mean, only 28 students were in our graduating class and some of us went with classmates, there were fewer than 56 students there and neither of us remembered seeing each other, but we know we likely did.  SMALL WORLD!  I am grateful for small worlds, for the fact that he was also classmates with my best friend gr...

As you may have already seen on my Newsfeed on the 228th day of 2019, I realized my Discover Card had, yet again, been compromised.  But, luckily for me, I also lost my physical card on 8/16/19.  So, when I called Customer Service, I was able to take care of this all.  And their fraud $0 policy made it really easy, even though I will now have to reset all of my auto payments.  So I head to bed a bit inconvenienced and perturbed, but grateful for Discover Card Fraud Protection and their excellent Customer Service.  Now just to wait for the new card....

I know that I spend way too much time and energy on being a sports fan.  But, on the 227th day of 2019, I remembered why.  I turned the Phillies game off multiple times on 8/15/19.  They were frustrating me to no end, and I could always swap over to the Eagles game.  But the Eagles ended, and Sarah tuned in to the Phillies game even though I told her I was not going to watch. But then, in the top of the 9th, the hits started squibbing in here and there and then Bryce Harper was up with the bases loaded and the Phillies down by 2 runs......it is the exact reason the Phillies signed him to a $330 million contract.  And he CAME THROUGH!  What a moment!  I am grateful for baseball moments such as this and, strangely enough, will be in a better mood for the rest of the night and into tomorrow.  GO PHILLIES! https://www.mlb.com/video/bryce-harper-hits-a-grand-slam-25-to-right-field-brad-miller-scores-roman-quinn-

A very scary thing happened on the 226th day of 2019.  At 4:30PM on 8/14/19, a search warrant was being served at a house in the neighborhood to the North of Temple Univ (where Sarah works). It ended up being closer to the Health Sciences Campus, 2 miles north of Main Campus (where Sarah works), but I could not help thinking about the officers (and their families worried aboout them) who were shot by the suspect.  Sarah looked out the window of her office and saw all of the police vehicles speeding towards the scene.  That's the thing about police officers.  When trouble rears its ugly head and most of us are running away, police (and other first responders) run TOWARDS the danger.  So, tonight, my gratitude is for police officers, everywhere, who work to keep us safe and who run into danger.  And tonight, especially for the officers of the PPD.  May all of the affected officers (and their families) heal quickly and completely.

We were in a familiar place on the evening of the 225th day of 2019.  Citizen's Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies!  We were not in our usual Dr. King seats but in seats I received as a Birthday Present for my 50th Birthday.  And the Phillies won!  But, on 8/13/19, the win from the home team was not the thing for which I am grateful.  No, what made me the happiest was the fact that Alexa and Anna were really into the game and were following the nuances of the game.  My gratitude is for the fact that Sarah and I are raising baseball fans.  The world needs more baseball fans!

On the 224th day of 2019, I once again saw a good use of social media, and Facebook even!  On 8/12/19 a wallet was reunited with its Penn student owner because someone found it and told one of her neighbors who works at Penn (with me on the project).  Since her neighbor works with me, she asked me to contact the student.  So I did, and gave the student the contact information of the neighbor - who I knew from our time together at Nursing.  Pretty cool, huh?

The 223rd day of 2019 started pretty innocuously.  It was a great service at church this morning and the weather today was as amazing as it was yesterday.  Reflecting on the weather and Pastor Michael's sermon suggesting we think about one thing we can do to better my life made me decide to do something I had not done in a long time (if ever).  As you have probably seen on my News Feed, on 8/11/19, I walked around the Newton Lake with my wife and my dog.  It was not easy, but it was possible.  And that is due to being lighter and stronger than I was this time last year.  So I am grateful, tonight, for a walk around the lake.  And my hope is for many more walks in the future.  I also hope that we all can look to do things to improve our lives and the world as well.

As far as palindromic days go, day #222 of 2019 was an up and down day.  We started off working with the amazing youth of Oaklyn/Collingswood serving breakfast at our Church.  It was also a beautiful, low-humidity day, and I even got to do some walking.  But, on 8/10/19, our hearts are heavy in Oaklyn.  A treasured member of our community, a mother of six, has had a horrible health situation and we are all very worried about her and her family.  But out of the ashes rises the phoenix and the Oaklyn community has been rallying around this family and stands at the ready to assist in any which way we can. I m grateful for the community in my town.  Truly small town Americana right next to a world class city!

The 221st day of 2019 ended my first work week back from vacation.  Considering that, the week went by quickly and was not tedious as well!  And, driving home, I was able to roll down the windows and turn the radio up and enjoy the low humidity and the breezes through the car.  For 8/9/19, it was a pleasant surprise.  I am grateful to have been driving with the windows down tonight, and I hope that it sticks the whole weekend (the forecast says it will!)

After work on the 220th day of 2019, we got to return to a familiar locale - the SOFTBALL FIELD.  Alexa and one of her teammates (and her teammate's father) were asked, by her Merchantville coach, to play with adults in a recreational softball game on 8/8/19. It was fun to see them playing on the same field as 20/30/40+ year old players.  And they held their own (Alexa even went 2 for 3 and played a mean 1st base!)  Sarah and I enjoyed watching softball game and didn't even mind getting rained (OK it was just a sprinkle) on.  So tonight, with fun memories of their first game with adults, I am grateful for recreational softball.  Can't wait for Alexa's Senior Season (but we have two other senior seasons to get through first).

As the workday of the 219th day of 2019 was coming to an end, I looked out the window and realzied it was gong to soon rain on the evening of 8/7/19.  So I hustled out of the office (still not a quick guy, but walking at a faster pace these days) and made it to the garage by 5:23.... RIGHT before the rain started.  Second time, in three weeks, that have had good timing.  Tonight, my gratitude is for good timing.  Thank goodness for timing that is good!

Sarah and I ran our annual Calendar Art Camp in Oaklyn on the 218th day of 2019.  So we were in the Oaklyn Fire Hall on 8/6/2019 along with 40 kids all drawing pictures for the PTA Calendar.   And all we had to give them were the supplies (paper, pencils, Sharpies), pizza, and a cool drink.  Tonight, we have a solid set of art from which to choose for our calendar, and I have gratitude for artistic kids (and the parents who brought them to camp)!

It was a return to the usual routine for Sarah and me on the 217th day of 2019.  But, not for Alexa and Anna on 8/5/19.  They had an extra day of vacation, spending the day in Stone Harbor, NJ with Sarah's parents and their friends.  They sent us pictures from the beach and their smiles warmed my heart (and, I really was not that jealous, I really am not fond of sand) so I am grateful, today, for beach days for my kids.  I am happy when they are happy, so I go to bed tonight, a little happier than I was when I awoke.

We are in shock, all across the US, on the 216th day of 2019.  Because, as of 8/4/19, there have been 251 mass shootings in this country.  It is unacceptable and something must change.  So, tonight, as I struggle to figure out what I can do, personally, I am grateful for people, of action, who care.  For people who are protesting, for Moms Demand Action that is working on legislation and have made a difference in some states, and for people like John Oliver who updated his show tonight to make specific points about the situation.  Let's hope for some action soon.  Because it is getting too late.

Family Vacations are great.  But they all must come to an end and, on the 215th day of 2019 we returned to the East Coast.  We spent most of 8/3/19 in airplanes and airports but now we are in our familiar home, hugging our dog (who really seemed to miss us this time), and getting ready to return to the usual routine.  As we were greeted at the airport by Sarah's brother (who was also happy to see us) and as we crossed the WWB into New Jersey and returned to the familiar sights and sounds of home, I was (and still am) grateful for coming home.  Yes, I miss my family on the West Coast and look forward to seeing them again soon, it is nice to have a place to come home to (and a dog who loves us).

Day 214 of 2019 was the last full day of the Sherr Family California Vacation.  #SadFace.  We had a great day, however, on 8/2/19.  We toured SF, went to the Golden Gate Bridge, had a really nice lunch downtown, had a nice Mexican dinner and saw my Aunt Teddy, and also, of course, played some family games.  It was great having another day of relaxation and smiles.  We now pack and plan for our (long) travel day tomorrow, back home to NJ. But, as we pack, I think we are all reflecting on our gratitude for family vacations.  It's a great Summer tradition and one I feel blessed that has been going on for so long and hope that it can keep on going even as kids age and life starts to get more in the way.

We took a lot of pictures on the 123rd day of 2019.  And, on 8/1/19, it was fun to look back on the pictures from prior vacations (thanks FB Memories!) and see how much everyone has changed and as the family gets bigger.  My gratitude tonight IS for those family pics AND for the memories that THEY bring back.