August 18

For the first time this year I forgot for a full week to post here. I wrote something elsewhere that I am copying here because I decided it counts:

 My cousin’s son turned 20 earlier this month. Sometime in the past 24 hours, he died. It’s a helpless feeling, imagining his parents’ feelings and knowing there is nothing that you can do to remove their suffering. Dad called Cristen tonight to tell her, since he knew she is close with our cousin. They used to love to tell people they are 20 days apart.

We topped 30,000 steps today, totaling 13.67 miles. It was supposed to be a rest day in Cristen’s workout plan. Ah well. We walked to church in Cambridge, then walked to Harvard, then to the Longfellow House and Mt. Auburn Cemetery. We’re glad for all of it, but we failed to plan well for food availability. We had a snack just before the 4:00 tour at Longfellow House and then ate lunch at 7:00 p.m., sandwiches purchased from Tatte minutes before they closed. My croissant was heavenly.

We made it back to our room at 8:30 pretty footsore. We will probably take a Lyft to the Kennedy Library tomorrow and rest a bit. I have burned triangles on my feet and a giant blister on the side of one big toe. I guess that’s what comes from working in an office and not wearing Chacos outside regularly.

I wish I had some comfort for Kari and Richard at Brandon’s death. They are thinking to bury him in Utah, so Cristen will likely be able to attend the service after she returns there on Wednesday.

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