I started back to school today. I'm only taking one class this semester, which will hopefully fulfill all the pre-reqs needed to begin the certification program. It is a science class, and although it is a 100 level course, it seems to be rather complex. It should be called Intro to Anatomy and Physiology... since that seems to be the bulk of the course. In addition to lectures and exams, it consists of three labs given throughout the semester which weigh heavily into the grade, and are rather tedious and advanced work for a "non science major" class. While it is somewhat daunting, and will prove to be a challenge, since it is my only class, I will able able to devote much more time to it. From glancing at the syllabus, somethings from high school biology, and some psych classes I took in college are starting to come back to me.. so I will have some background in it.
Some members of my family from my maternal grandma's side had a medallion minted to commemorate out family. We have had annual family reunions for over 40 years, and the family has grown quite large since my great grandparents came to America back in the 20's from Italy. It's a nice design with all the family names listed on it. It's amazing to see all the different ethnicities and backgrounds now depicted with this originally all Italian family. We now have Austrian, Irish, Polish, Jewish, Slavic, German, and Sicilian names in our family. Another neat part of this medallion is that they all have a number stamped into it, signifying the owner's birth order into the family, or their order at the time they married into the family. My mother for example was the 22nd descendant of Bridget and Ottone, while I am the 60th. Quite fascninating. On the front of the medallion is the outline of the keystone (symbol of Pennsylvania) and the name of the town my family grew up in, and where the reunions are still held. In the center of the keystone are the American and Italian flags crossed, with the Italian saying (translated here in English) "One family always" inscribed overhead. It's a wonderful family keepsake, and it was all engineered and paid for by a handful of relatives. Pretty neat.
I've been feeling rather "blah" lately, wondering if it's only tied into the lack of sunlight, or perhaps something more. We lost power yesterday because of the ice "storm", and it was FREEZING for a few hours. I was very content to stay in bed till after 1PM. I forced myself to get my ass on the treadmill today and keep moving, I don't want to get into a permanent slump. I think part of this has to do with the fact my hours were cut back at work, as this is the slow time of the year for us. My already small income has decreased, and doesn't give me much to use to pay for me to get out of the house. Bah!
I've been doing a lot of reminiscing lately as well, going over old albums I have from the past four or five years. I can't help but remember all the people I have lost over the years, either through death or a mutual falling out and parting of the ways. It's the people who are still alive I miss the most because I know they are still out there... only we have (mostly they have) chosen to move on without me in their lives. I especially think of Ruth from my old parish, and the amount of time we spent together, and the bonds we had forged over the years. Others come to mind as well, equally as strong. Though there is a lot of bitterness and hurt there, I have to admit that some love remains. No matter what happens, or how much two people turn against each other, can you ever REALLY stop loving someone completely?? I think if the love was there once, it remains, at least in part. It can be painful, but I have learned that you really do learn from pain, and it teaches you to (hopefully) not make the same mistakes over and over again.
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