Well said, Roy Batty. But when you save old emails, some of those moments are preserved!
Continuing my curating of old Juno emails, here are some between Cristina and me, from summer of 2001. I had taken 5-year-old Sofia to Costa Rica for two weeks while Cristina stayed home in Gainesville with 10-month-old Alex.
The cool thing about old emails is that they include little slices of everyday life. Details that can easily be lost...like tears in rain.
These may be boring to most casual readers, but they're fun for the principal participants. Enjoy, Sofia! By the way, the video referenced in several emails is a video that Sofia and I made for Alex for him to watch while we were gone. It was just a recording of us saying hi to Alex and talking to him, telling him we'll be home soon and we love him. So he wouldn't forget us. I think it worked. :) I wonder if I still have that video somewhere. Probably...
From: Cristina C Eury
To: tageury@hotmail.com
Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2001 22:00:33 -0400
Subject: Friday for Sofia and Papi
Hello!
I hope everything went well!
I hope you will be resting or have rested very soon. I know come Saturday morning the wonderful
adventure begins!
I was calling (writing) to report on Alex and my day. Alex woke me up around 9 am. We got dressed,
folded diapers and ate breakfast. During
breakfast I got a call from Grandmother in Chicago. We both had cereal and bananas. Soon Alex was ready for a nap. I made some phone calls, like Granddaddy
about lunch, Wita, etc. Alex started to
wake up so I went to nurse him and fell asleep.
Fortunately, someone (Kim from Tallahassee) called at 11:08 and woke me up! She says she might come to visit either this Wednesday night or the next. I got up and changed Alex's diaper and ran out the door. We went to go have lunch with Granddaddy and Ms. Margaret. Alex was bouncing all over the place! He would not sit still. I think he was missing Sofia. He kept looking around the whole time! We had a nice lunch and Alex wanted to eat all of Mommy's food! He would get mad if I tried to eat any! I finally had to put him on the floor to play with some toys to eat some food.
We left there and went to the Reitz Union to pick out the
ring stuff for Sara and Carmel. On the
way there he actually fell quietly asleep!
We left the R.U. around 3 and came home.
He cried all the way home. We got
home and he wanted a nap. So I laid down
on the bed and watched "Autumn in New York." It was sad at the end, but I liked it. It was fun to watch a new movie!
Aunt Mary called to say they were finally leaving the apartment
at 4:30 pm. She wanted me to call Aunt
Lynn, so she wouldn't worry about her. So I got to talk to her for a little
while and that was nice.
Alex slept until almost 5. We got up and made some dinner, frozen veggies, rice and chicken. I talked to Mary next door and she told me that Katy had died in April. I was surprised! I also talked to Mrs. Wendy next door, and she said they will be moving sometime in July. A widowed mom and her 10 year old daughter are moving in.
After dinner, Alex and I went for a walk in the
stroller. He kept looking around for his
big sister. He kept turning around to
me, like he was saying "where is the action?" We got home and got showered. (It got sweaty on our walk.)
Alex then nursed and played a little, then nursed and fell
asleep. Wita called and said she would
come over and watch Alex, so I could go to my massage at noon. I washed dishes, ate a snack of French poppy
seed bread and half an avocado. The
avocado had a slightly metallic taste, which was weird. Well, I'm still hungry and thirsty. I think I'm going to try and put away all the
clean clothes and finish putting the photos in the album.
Well we tried to keep busy, but we both missed both of you a
whole lot!
I hope all is well or soon getting there.
I love you both very, very much. It is very lonely here without you two.
Absence has quickly made this heart grow fonder.
Love, mommy
From: Cristina C Eury
To: tageury@hotmail.com
Date: Sat, 9 Jun 2001 23:06:44 -0400
Subject: saturday
Hello, hugs and kisses to you both!
We woke up around 8 and got dressed. While we were getting dressed, Alex watched
your video. He liked the peek-a-boo
parts and really laughed at the get-cha parts!
We went into the guest room and unloaded, sorted two more boxes. We ate breakfast around 9 and I decided I
really wanted fried eggs, so I made some.
Alex ate bananas and cereal while I did all of that. After breakfast, we sat down on the
carpet. We decided Coco needed a
brushing, so we brushed for at least 30 minutes, and I kept getting lots of
hair! It's like he is shedding, but he loves
the brushing! Alex went down for a nap
around 10:15 and I fell asleep with him.
Wita came charging in around 11, thinking that was when my
appointment was. My massage appt. wasn't
until noon. So she left saying she had some
things to do and returned at 11:50. He
had woken up about 10 minutes after she left, so we unloaded the
dishwasher. I left some food, veggies,
avocado, etc. for him. She had him out
in the stroller looking at the pink mimosa tree flowers near the mailbox and
swinging in the back yard when I got home.
He seemed happy to see me, but he didn't cry. Soon Grandmother called to check on us and
tell me it's been in the 60s as the high until just this week! Today it was in the mid-70s. We will need to bring pants when we go
up! Wita left and Alex went down for
another nap. I got the milk boiling to
make yogurt and eat some lunch (it was now 2).
He woke up early, so I put him in the bounce seat on the counter
underneath the toaster oven. He found
the knob that opens up the bottom tray of the toaster oven and preceded to open
it with one hand!! Crumbs went everywhere! I still haven't cleaned it all up! I finished getting the yogurt made and washed
some pots.
I kept trying to nurse him so he would go back to sleep, but
he wouldn't it. It had started to rain with
thunder, so we couldn't go outside. It
was almost 5, so I put him in the baby trekker and started vacuuming the
computer room, the guest room, the hall, and some of our bedroom. By that time I knew it was getting close to
time to pick up granddaddy to go to Wita's house for dinner. Alex liked having Paw-paw sit next to him,
but he kept looking for me.
As we finished preparing for the meal, Alex played on the
carpet between the kitchen and dining room table. Alex ate rice and beans and a lot of cooked
carrots, but he would not look at Wita during the meal. He would only look at me, even though he
would open his mouth for her as she was feeding him. Interesting, huh?
Wita gave him a bath there, but I forgot to bring his
PJs. The only thing that I brought was
too small for him to wear. It had
started raining again and Paw-paw was worried that Alex might get sick, so we
had to cover him up. It had gotten down to
72*. He was pretty tired by then, so
Alex and I headed straight home. He
started to fuss and I was patting his chest and he fell asleep again, right at
the entrance of the neighborhood. I got
him to the bed still asleep and got in the shower to wash my hair. He slept the whole while. I didn't get the clothes put up, so I'm doing
that now. Alex woke up and nursed back
to sleep around 10, but I was stuck for almost an hour! So I'm a little behind, but I'm going to try
to get in bed by midnight so I don't get too tired.
Well, I think that's all for now. We love you both!
From: "Wayne Eury"
To: ciceury@juno.com
Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2001 14:21:37
Subject: We miss you!
Hi Mommy,
I love you Mommy. Papi loves you too. We hope Alex and you
are feeling good and feed Coco every day but you can't forget about it and we
had fun last night. I love you! Bye!
Love, Sofia
Hi Honey,
It sounds like you're keeping super busy. I remember when I
spent those 2 weeks alone, the first few days were hard, because you're really
eking out a new routine. Then, you kind of get into the groove and you almost
get used to it, but at some point towards the end, you start severely missing
those that aren't there and you start counting down the hours. It's a little
different for you, since you've got Alex (I didn't even have Coco--just
Princess) so it will be interesting to see how the whole thing flows for you.
Well, your birthday is coming up, and Sofia and I have
hidden a few little gifts around the house. We'll tell you where to look, so
don't go tearing the house apart! Today's gift clues are as follows: They said
it was too funky, and it's really kind of clunky, but it gives us pretty good
light, even if it's a tacky sight. Under it there is a belly, made of plaster
jelly, and under that there are 2 drawers, the bottom one holds a bit more.
It sounds like your Saturday went well. That is interesting
about Alex not looking at anyone but you. I wonder what's going on in his mind.
I'm glad he watched the video.
Have you asked Don about jacking up the van? We have some
support things in our garage, which look like little tripods. We just need to
jack the van up high enough to get one of those under it. Then when I get home,
I can take off the tire and go get a new one.
Don't forget to check Coco's water, since he's got a little
bottle now. I'm glad you brushed him a lot. All that hair that we get in the
brush would normally wind up on our floor and bed and furniture, so that's
good. His litter boxes should be fine, but you should rake them when you think
about it. When they get too full, that's when he goes to find other places to
do it.
Well, that's about all I can think of. Oh, Elena told me
Autumn in New York was kind of sad. Sorry bout that. I just knew you had wanted
to rent it. But hey, it's a chick flick. Chick flicks are supposed to be a
little sad. It's a rule!
Papi wants me to fax my journals to Jarue. That seems like
kind of a pain. What do you suggest? Should I fax them, or can you print them
and take them to her, or check your mail over there and let her read them? What
do you think would be best? Hope things are smoothing out between you two. Lane
and I are OK. There was one little time yesterday when I was telling Sofia to
stop doing something, and Elena barked at her too, and I told Lane "She
doesn't need two people telling her." and that was it. So we're doing OK.
I've told Elena her assignment for these 2 weeks is to learn the art of
IGNORING. She needs to ignore the annoying things Sofia does instead of letting
them get under her skin to the point where she explodes. So she's agreed to
work on it. And I've noticed a few times when Lane was about to blow and she
calms herself down and says quietly to herself "I'm not going to get into
this." One thing Lane does that she needs to break is when you or I tell Sofia
to stop doing something, or to do something, and Sofia doesn't immediately do
what we say, Elena sees this and, I guess, feels outraged that Sofia is not
doing it, or thinks Sofia didn't hear us, and so she repeats the order, but
much louder and angrier. And then Sofia's attention is taken away from her
parents and she gets upset that Elena is telling her what to do and everything
just gets worse. So if I can just keep Lane out of the parenting role and she
can learn to be an innocent bystander aunt, things will be smooth as silk. It's
funny that Lane is so vehemently against having kids, yet she tries to
discipline Sofia like she's a mother. I give Lane till she's 28 to have a kid.
Sofia's knee boo-boo's are fine. Oh, that reminds me: on the
plane, we were talking about her boo-boo's, and then she asked a question, but
she still had boo-boo's on the brain because she said "when we get to
boo-boo's apartment, can we..." We all laughed hard about that, and it's
been the running joke since to call your dad boo-boo. He thought it was funny
too.
Well, Sofia is dying for me to get off the computer so she
can do a CD-ROM, so I guess I will. I need to get my morning shower anyway. I
miss you bunches. Last night after Sofia went to bed I made several trips to the
potty for that traveler's friend die-gorilla. As I lay in bed, trying to feel
better, I wanted to be home. Going to the beach, day trips to San Jose, all
that seemed like so much work. I just wanted to be at home, comfortable, with
you and Alex. Also, when I was showing the pictures of you and Alex to the
Fallases, I really longed to be with you. Sometimes I think this trip is a
really great experience to be doing it alone, but then other times I think to
myself "I never want to travel without Cris again, because she's my best
friend and I want to share all the experience with her." I'm looking
forward to next summer when we can all be here together! And the Chicago trip
is sounding more and more inviting, because we'll all be together, the way I like
it. I want to hold my boy! I want to kiss his stinky-cheese neck and hear his
deep throaty baby laugh. I want to see his huge, perpetual smile and nibble his
sweaty feet.
OK, Sofia's getting slap-happy, talking about burps and
parts. I'll talk to you later. Keep writing! I love you.
Love, "Eury"
From: Cristina C Eury
To: tageury@hotmail.com
Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2001 01:53:16 -0400
Subject: Re: We miss you!
Today Alex and I woke around 9ish and got dressed to your
video. We ate breakfast and decided to
go for a walk, but instead of our usual route, we went towards the front of the
neighborhood. We saw a dog and talked to
its owner for a little. Then as we were
three houses from home, we saw Spencer and John. We talked to them for a little and then
headed home. Alex just doesn't enjoy his
walks as much without you two there. He keeps turning to me and wanting to be
picked up. We got home around 10:45 and
went down for a nap. I fell asleep
too.
We woke up around 1:15.
We changed a diaper and went to sit on the carpet, to brush Coco and eat
some lunch. I have a new problem that if
I want to eat something Alex wants it too!
While we were on the carpet, and I was sitting on the stool, Alex turned
around and dove towards me, hitting his cheek right below his left eye on one
of the corners. I immediately put
traumeel on it. He would open his eye
and it looked fine, so I didn't worry.
He nursed and fell asleep for another 30 mins while I watched some of
Anne of Green Gables. We need to read
those to Fia. They are wonderful!
When he woke, I put him in the trekker on my back but
looking over my shoulder. He seemed to
like that better. Yesterday he fussed
more while he was facing out on my back.
WE finished vacuuming the hall, guest bath, living rooms, kitchen and
dining room areas. Then we went and cleared
all the boxes off the guest bed. By that
time we were running late to go to Wita's for dinner. I had called Ms. Margarat to invite her
along, so she brought Granddaddy there.
I printed out the letters. We were
supposed to be there around 5, we arrived 35 mins late. We had dinner, but Alex wasn't too interested
in the food, like he was the night before.
He wanted to play on the floor instead.
After Granddaddy and Margarat left, Wita bathed Alex and we read your
letters. It was almost 8 and Alex was
tired, so we headed home.
When we got home I went looking for my present. I found it and opened it. How cool!
A whole box of double stuff just for me!
Thanks you two!
Shannon called at 8:45 to say she was approaching on
I-75. She arrived 30 mins later. I tried putting Alex on the bed, but he kept
waking up. We got her bed made and the supplies for tomorrow out. She brought the light box and won't charge
me. (That was really nice!) Finally they went to bed around 1. I got a shower and came to write.
Mom said I can just print out the letters and bring them
whenever I come. I talked to Wendy about
the van but didn't get a chance to get Don to do the jack. I need to find it first. The plans sound exciting, Mom and I are
jealous. She's never stayed in
Cahuita. I hope both your digestive
systems are getting back to normal. I
glad Elena is working on ignoring and being successful. Tell her, her room looks great! I don't remember the last time I saw that
floor! Well, I'm not quite as weepy, but
I miss you both bunches. It's almost 2,
so I need to get to bed! I love you!
Cris
From: "Wayne Eury"
To: ciceury@juno.com
Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2001 13:52:05
Subject: Happy Gnome-Making
Just a quick note to wish your gnome-making party a success.
Tell Alex we'll join him on his walks soon enough. Glad the video is becoming a
routine. I'm determined he won't forget us! I may have "forgotten" my
parents, but we also didn't have camcorders then!
I hadn't realized Katy had died so long ago. I remember
seeing her sick in the garage when I was borrowing ladders but I don't remember
when that was. Poor thing. Well, at least she's not hurting anymore.
Tell Shannon I said hi and I hope she has a good time in
Gainesville. I know she'll find a great job in no time. Talented people always
do! Maybe you three could go for a little trip to a local natural attraction
(San Felasco, Biven's Arm, etc.). I know Shannon likes those. Maybe have a
picnic.
Well, it sounds like Aunt Gay won't be going to the beach
with us. We will ride the bus together to Cahuita and then she'll go on to
Panama. We invited her to stay at the beach with us, but Hank says he's not
into that. I guess he would have come up to join us if Gay was going to join
us, but alas no. At least we'll get to be with Benjamin's Grandmommy on the bus
for 3-4 hours. And she's staying tomorrow night in Grecia, I think at the
Fallas house. We pick her up from the airport tomorrow afternoon.
I guess that's all for now. We're going to San Jose today. Love
you! Your next present hint will come, oh, I guess Wednesday before we leave
for the beach.
Love, Tag
From: Cristina C Eury
To: tageury@hotmail.com
Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2001 10:02:07 -0400
Subject: alex's ears
Last night was slightly rougher. This morning he woke with gunk in both
eyes. I think he’s started another ear
infection. I'll start the ear oil and Echinacea. I'll call Janet Rucker the homeopath and
maybe Swanger.
C
From: Cristina C Eury
To: tageury@hotmail.com
Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2001 02:44:17 -0400
Subject: monday
Today we woke up around 8 am, got dressed while watching the
video and ate breakfast. After
breakfast, we decided to go for a short walk just around the block. Alex was not exactly entertained; 2/3rds of
the way home, he wanted to be held. As
we approached the house, we noticed Gracie and Wendy had arrived early, before
10. So we all went inside and started
getting things set up, cutting up the muslin, spraying the glue on the paper,
sticking the cloth to the paper, and then finally tracing. We were finally
tracing around 11:30. All the light
boxes came in handy.
Alex was excited to have so many people there, he wouldn't
take his nap until a little after 11. He
slept for almost 1.5 hours! It was
great! I got a lot of tracing done.
Wendy brought stuffed shells and Italian bread and chocolate cake. It was all good! We ate lunch around 1. Both Shannon and Wendy had started coloring
their gnomes. We kept working to get one
all finished for both of them. I think
Gracie missed not being able to play with Sofia. She stuck to her mother like glue, except
while she watched Lion King. I realized
I know a lot about sewing from having watched my mom all these years. Wendy had trouble sewing up the arms, because
it is such tight curves, but I knew a trick of mom's that Shannon's came out
all right. Wendy decided she needed to
leave around 3:30, so they scooted on home.
Because I was trying to stay one step ahead of them to make sure we had everything
ready, and in between dealing with Alex. I didn't get anything done on
mine. But all of the stuff is now out
and ready to go, so when I have 15 mins. I can go and work on some piece of it.
After they left around 4:30, Shannon decided she needed a
nap. Alex didn't want to cooperate with
that for another hour. I finally laid
down and we got a little sleep. Mom
called around 6:30 to say she was finally leaving the health dept. and we could
meet her at home. We didn't get there until
7. We had leftovers, but it was
nice. Mom talked with Shannon a
lot. I bathed Alex, by myself. We left around 9:30. We got home and decided to watch a movie, Pay
it Forward. We really like it! Shannon
colored her other gnome during the movie.
We will finish it tomorrow before she leaves. She has to leave Tuesday at dinner time because
she has an interview Wednesday morning in Tampa. We are playing it by ear, but we were
thinking of going blueberry picking in the morning. We will see how we feel.
Well, I got showered and washed my hair. It's now almost 3, so I needed to hit the
sack. Say some prayers for Alex and his
ears- cold. I love you and miss you
both. Alex really misses and loves you
both.
Have a good day!
Cris
From: Cristina C Eury
To: tageury@hotmail.com
Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2001 21:54:20 -0400
Subject: Alex
He is not awful, but Swanger is only in on Monday and
Wed. I'm going to take him in to see if
it looks bad in the ears or not. I've
started garlic oil and talked to Janet.
She thinks Pulsatilla might do better right now, so I went Ward's to get
it.
I'll write more later.
Cris
From: "Wayne Eury"
To: ciceury@juno.com
Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2001 03:36:46
Subject: Beach tomorrow
Hi Honey,
Sorry to hear about Alex's ears. I wish I was there to help
you (and here too--I want a clone!) I almost had a pukey 5-year old today (see
journal) and I would trade that for an ear infection any day. Maybe our kids
are psychically linked and felt bad on the same day, even though they are far
apart. Hmm.
But Sofie seems to be better now. Whew. I am the family
healer-in-training!
Did you know your dad has one of those ear thermometers? Pretty
cool. I didn't tell him we heard they were unreliable. Why burst his bubble. I
was just glad to have a thermometer.
OK, we're off to the beach tomorrow, so I won't have
internet access until Friday night. We'll be back in Grecia around 9 PM.
Here's your next present: Near the TV there is a black box,
that only gets used for movies that rock. It's wide and it's black and it has a
cloth face, and behind it you'll find a gift in the space.
That was an easy one. Enjoy your second birthday present.
We love you bunches! Can't wait to be with you and Alex
again soon. We'll say the healing prayer every night at the beach, for Alex.
Love, Tag
