The day I long dreaded, the day that A.J. and her family left to move to Saint Augustine, finally came two weeks ago. The day before they left, I watched Phoenix. A.J. came over and we walked Cosmo- Elise’s Frenchie- down the trail on 76 Street because he hadn’t wanted to go out earlier in the rain. Phoenix insisted on holding the leash himself to walk Cosmo.

Then Wyatt and Justin came over to say goodbye.

Give Gigi an extra big hug now, because you’re not going to see her for a while.

said Justin

Open heart, insert knife.

I was holding Phoenix, so we did a group hug in the living room. Kinda reminded me of the end of the Mary Tyler Moore show (I’m dating myself here) but this was my real family parting ways, not a work family.

As I said goodbye to the clan in the driveway, I was trying to keep it together, but tears started to well up in my eyes. I know A.J. saw them and I just wanted them to leave, quickly, before the waterworks started. They were leaving the next morning, so I made sure I was busy that day. Zeke and I went to see a house for sale, I picked up a box of mangos from my old tennis partner and then, headed down to the Keys for the weekend.

A.J. and the kids stopped by the next morning, but I had already gone. Truthfully, I don’t think I could’ve gone through another goodbye- the first one was hard enough. The night before they left, I had a hard time sleeping, so I got up and wrote Wyatt a letter.

Dear Wyatt,

The day you were born seven and a half years ago in South Miami Hospital, you became my life. Today you will leave for Saint Augustine and will start a new life and, so will I.

I know we’ll both do great.

Love, Gigi

It said more, but that was the gist and I cried as I wrote it.

Wyatt and I talked about how we would keep in touch when he moved. We agreed to: Sending each other letters and Face Timing and “when I get a phone, I’ll text you.”

“When will that be?” I asked.

“When I’m ten,” he said.

A long way away….

I’ve done pretty good at keeping myself busy.

Going to the Keys, out on the boat, Happy Hours, Lunches and Dinners. I even had a Pizza Party last Friday night with friends. Almost all of my entertaining this year has revolved around my family, as I wanted to savor every precious bit of time I had with A.J. and company. I did mention, at our last Spaghetti Sunday (a send-off for A.J.), that I would like to keep up the tradition of having pasta on Sundays; doing it once a month and rotating houses. Everyone liked the idea.

So you start this tradition when I move away?

A.J. said, half kidding.

But I still have my Mom, sisters, nieces, nephews and grand niece (Gracie) in Miami, so I think we should make it a point of getting together, while we all can. As I’ve learned, you never know when it could all end.

I’m doing Storyworth, where they ask you a question a week and, at the end of the year, you have a book. It’s pretty cool and was a gift from my Mom for my birthday. Anyway, a recent question was: “What simple pleasures do you enjoy?” and there were so many I could think of and so, as I go about my day, I think of more and write them down. It’s a great reminder to be grateful each day for the little things in life.

One thing that happened to me last week that I was grateful for was I finally got paid for an article I wrote a year ago; the editor paid me more than I asked for! The other thing that happened was the new Chicken Soup for the Soul: Get Out of Your Comfort Zone book, that my story “Yes, Let’s!” is in, hit my doorstep. This was very exciting; I shot a video of myself opening up the package. It will be available for purchase July 25th and I will probably have a Book Signing.

Of course, at the top of my list of simple pleasures, is spending time with my grandsons. That’s not going to change, although it has gotten more complicated. In July, I will go to Tallahassee to visit Liam, Christopher and Courtney for the weekend and then head to Saint Augustine to see A.J. and her family. I’ll stay there a couple days and then bring Wyatt down to Miami for a week, to go to the Keys and camp at Riviera.

You can bet I’m counting the days!

I just called to say I love you. I just called to say how much I care. I just called to say I love you. And I mean it from the bottom of my heart.

Stevie Wonder

Up Next: Camponata

One, if you leave water balloons your grandson threw sitting on your patio deck, they will stick like glue and not be able to be removed, even with a pressure cleaner. Two, if you build a Zen garden, they will come. They, being cats who will come and then poop in your Zen garden.

Well, it does kind of look like a giant litter box.

said Emma.

And while I thought a Rock garden would be zero maintenance, I didn’t count on the leaves and palm fronds falling and weeds sprouting through the rocks. The black weed blocker I put down underneath apparently doesn’t prevent weeds from growing completely. It just slows them down.

The third thing I’ve come to realize is nothing stays the same and change is inevitable. I already knew this one, of course, but lately it’s been hitting home hard. My babysitting gigs with middle grandson Liam ended when they moved to Colorado in September. A friend bought a house in Alabama to be closer to her family and she’ll be splitting her time between the two places, actually three as there is also a home in North Carolina. (Hi Tami!)

Other friends, Doug and Heidi, sold their house in Miami to move to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They still have a condo in the Keys, so hopefully we’ll see them there, but they have moved on. And other friends, Brooks and Sharon, decided to sell their home in Cutler Cay and move to one of two cities in Florida. As soon as they find a house they like, they’ll list their home. Sharon’s mother Connie, who’s lived with them for many years, is moving to The Villages to be by her other daughter and have a more active social life. At 86.

So, all of this change, makes me feel sad and a little like we’re being deserted. Like we’re missing the boat. What boat? I guess the boat out of Miami loaded with a big bag of cash. While we would like to sell our albatross of a house (I’m sure this will attract plenty of buyers!) it doesn’t make any sense to sell it unless we move out of Miami. And my kids, stepkids, grandkids, Mom and sisters are in Miami, so we are not moving. My life is here; but still it makes me sad. I guess the only thing I can do is enjoy the time I have with friends and family, because you never know when they might leave.

So I had my sister Elise, who lives right down the street, over for caviar with all the trimmings on Sunday night. It was leftover from a party the night before. She came with her Frenchie Cosmo, a lovable, little hunk of a dog. Emma and Gui joined us, with her Cocker Spaniel Lucy, who looked awfully cute, recently groomed with a big pink bow, but she didn’t get along with Cosmo. Apparently, Lucy doesn’t play well with other four-legged friends.

For dinner I made Lemon Pasta since I had leftover shrimp, which I thought would pair nicely with the pasta. It was a Nigella Lawson recipe (Lemon Linguine), quite easy and delicious. I served the pasta with Rustic Bread and, for dessert, made a Dried Apricot-Pistachio Ice Cream from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz.

I thought it was quite yummy- sweet, salty, fruity and crunchy. It was more apricot-flavored than pistachio, however as you stir the pistachios in at the end. He suggests “warming Crepes and serving them, folded, on plates topped with scoops of this ice cream, a drizzling of honey and a scattering of chopped pistachios.” Sounds delicious and I have loved trying recipes from this cookbook, given to me by friends Gema and Rogelio, who are not moving out of Miami anytime in the near future (as far as I know.)

I have actually meditated and done yoga in my Meditation/Rock/Zen garden, but it has to be after 3 p.m., when the workmen who are constructing the new house next door, have left. Along with the beeping, grinding, whirring, crashing and booming, there are grown men screaming loudly at each other at all times of the day. Not peaceful and makes it hard to get your zen on, to write, or concentrate.

I found a perfect white oval rock lodged into some dirt on the outside of our coral rock wall. I removed it, washed it and painted Hope on it. I reinserted it in the ground where I planted wildflowers. My previous attempts at growing wildflowers have failed miserably. I have now thoroughly researched how and where to grow them, killed the weeds, prepared the soil and am anxiously awaiting the seeds to sprout. I am also hoping the constant screaming and yelling next door will stop.

So my neighbor Maggie’s house is gone and they’re building a new one in its place. Maggie moved, at 85, to an apartment in Coconut Grove where she is reinventing her life. I consider my friends who are leaving and think it would be hard to start over at our age (I’m 61), but here are Maggie and Connie (Sharon’s mom) starting over in their 80’s, so anything is possible.

I told Zeke I wished the lady who was building a house for her parents (also in their 80’s) right next to us would have come over and apologized for making our life a living hell for the next nine (or so) months.

No one does that Gina.

said Zeke

I guess not. Even I probably wouldn’t do that, but one can hope, can’t one? Hope springs eternal.

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