Fourteen

 Happy Fourteenth Birthday Maddy!

 

It has been quite a year! It started out pretty well. We had an amazing trip to Florida, where you faithfully represented your Hogwarts House, Hufflepuff. (You truly are a Hufflepuff, through and through!)

But then the world threw us a massive curveball, and we still haven't gotten back to normal. The year hasn't been terrible though. And lucky for you, I think introverts are a little better equipped to deal with the social isolation of a pandemic.

You definitely enjoy having cats as classmates. Hermione is truly your cat. No one can get her to play like you can!

You've said many times over the past year, that you really wish you could tell your March 13, 2020 self, not to be quite SO excited over a "two week" school closure *maniacal laughter*. It's eleven months later and you JUST started going to school a measly two days a week. And that has been a bit unpredictable between the weather and internet problems. We're stuggling to get back a sense of normalcy, but we're just not there yet. But the upside is, very little homework! And last spring you could go tidepooling and call it science class!

And watching Hamilton over and over could be called History class. ( We watched it over July 4th weekend, and you haven't gotten the songs out of your head yet!)


Also, I think you would definitely call the discovery that ice cream can be DELIVERED one of the bright spots of living through a pandemic!

However, having your basketball career abruptly stopped and missing out on March Madness was a low point. That weekend last March, when your 7th grade team was playing in the playoffs, I had no idea that game would be your last and I'm really sad about it. You could have played one last year with Parks and Recreation, but you didn't think it would be very fun to play in a face mask (and I think you made the wise decision). You love shooting hoops so much, I just hope you make your dad get out there from time to time so you can take him to school!

But, when one door closes, another opens up....you starting swimming with Adaptive Sports New England this fall. Sadly, because of COVID, I haven't had a chance to see you swim, but you love it and you come away exhausted after every practice so I think it's going well! I'm hoping to get you into CP soccer as well this year. I know it's tough to find the right opportunities for your abilities, but you're just such a sports lover and you loved being on a basketball team SO much, I really want you to experience that again.

Aside from ice cream delivery and endless time to watch Hamilton on a loop, the other bright spot of the pandemic is that it's forced us to get outside as much as possible to save our sanity! So, this was the year that Bob finally wore me down and he convinced me to let him buy THREE kayaks. So, you bascially have your own kayak now and you seem pretty happy about it. I love the independence that it gives you.

And while kayaking IS fun, your MOST favorite thing to do is sail, and I'm really hoping to get you out on the water as much as possible this summer. Sailing gives you so much confidence. I love how to you like to show off all your expertise, it's just great to see!

This year, you've seemed more like a teenager. Always stalling to stay up later and later. Sleeping WAY too late on the weekends. Always scrolling through Instragram (loving all the Hamilton and introvert memes.) Another upside to the pandemic, (and all the resulting walks we took to keep ourselves sane!) is that you started taking photos to share on Instagram and I think you've developed a real love of photography. And you have a great eye!

I've tried really hard not to wish away this difficult time, because I know these years with you are fleeting and precious. And there is much joy to be had, even in a pandemic year (hopefully?) in which everything so challenging. You are such a smart, funny and interesting human being, I don't want to miss a minute of seeing you grow up.

Happy Birthday Maddy!