Round 15: October 2024
Narrated by Paige Robinson
I've been trying to convince Jack for months that he needs to hire someone to help on the farm. I have a full-time job, Todd's too young and Frieda's getting ready for college. So many nights I go to bed, fall asleep and then wake up without him there. Then I go downstairs and see that he's fallen asleep on the sofa.
He says he's fine but I can see how tired he is all the time. I'm worried that next year when Emma starts pre-school he won't take breaks at all. At least now he has to stop for a while to take care of her.
He finally gave up and decided to keep the Farmer's Market open only 3 days a week. The rest of the time his cashier will work at the farm helping him with the crops.
We live in the outskirts of the town but luckily our families are more than happy to visit us every now and then. We recently redecorated parts of the house - mainly just put up new wallpapers and redid the floor - and we invited mom and dad to see the result.
Todd is really interested in the family history and dad loves telling stories so they usually have a really good time. I just hope that dad doesn't tell the juiciest stories because Todd's only 12 and some of our ancestors were pretty wild!
I've never thought of mom as a doting grandmother - she
is the head of the SCIA after all - but she really loves all her grandchildren. She says that Emma looks exactly like I did as a kid and it brings back lovely memories.
Dad spent about 20 years in the military and he always loves to hear what's going on in the base. We often end up playing a game of chess - it's something we've done ever since I was a kid. Dad's the one who taught me how to play.
A couple of days later I got a phone call from Alexa. She was crying so hard that I could barely understand what she was saying.
"Paige, it's dad... he's gone
! He didn't wake up in the morning and... we called the ambulance but there was nothing they could do" she sobbed.
I was completely speechless.
I arrived at the house at the same time with Brooke. Mom was crying and it was so shocking. I've never seen her like that... she's always been the strongest woman I know but now she was just breaking down completely.
We did our best to console her and each other. We didn't quite know what to say but we just kept hugging each other.
At some point mom calmed down and then she just sat on the sofa, staring ahead and not saying anything.
I get so much comfort when I come home and see my children. After dad's death I've been dividing my time between work, home and funeral arrangements and I feel like I've been stretched really thin.
Jack's been really wonderful. He makes sure that things are running smoothly at home so there's one less thing for me to worry about right now.
I'm trying to stay strong because I just can't break down in front of the kids but it's not easy. They're hurting too. Emma's so little but even she knows something bad has happened. Todd's trying to act like he's ok but I know he's really not.
Todd wants to go to the funeral so we've asked Frieda to babysit Emma. Frieda's been a great help and I'm so proud of her.
My grief finally caught up with me the night after the funeral. We were getting ready for bed and I just suddently fell apart. Jack just took me in his arms and held me while I cried. It's going to take some time but I know this is just something I have to get over.
Notes:
- Title reference: Broken crown by Mumford & Sons.
- RIP Chase Harper. His obituary will be online tomorrow (or Wednesday if I don't have time to type it today).
- I knew what was going to happen and I was really hoping that Jack wouldn't act like a jerk during this session. And he didn't. He only rolled the fear of Eve dying, other than that there was nothing about her.
- Jack really needs someone to help around the farm. I haven't decided how to handle it yet but I'll try to do it without turning the farm into home business.
- Just a few updates left and then we can finally kiss Round 15 goodbye!
I didn't realize the big age gap between their children was so large, wow. You handled the loss of a parent very well, especially with her trying to keep it together for the sake of others before breaking down herself, I hate writing about deaths in my blog.
ReplyDeleteThe age gap is so big because I had completely forgotten I had Paige on the InTeen birth control. When I finally realised it and took her off it they tried for a baby immediately and got Emma. I wish they'd gotten more kids but I think they've given up that hope since she's already 40.
DeleteI thought Paige would be the kind of person to try to stay strong for everyone else. She's the oldest child and also has learned to keep her composure in her line of work. But even the strongest ones break down sometimes.
I hate writing about deaths too. That's why I tried to focus on more positive things in the beginning of the update so that it wouldn't be all about losing Chase.
Thanks for reading. :)
I'm glad we still got to see a little bit of Chase during this update. You wrote it in very nicely, a death is never easy to write in.
ReplyDeletePoor Paige, she kept strong, but at some point your grieve doest catch up and you'll break down.
I hope you can work something out for Jack and the farm.
I really wanted to have Chase make an appearance in this update because it's been so long since I played his household.
DeletePaige doesn't want to scare her kids by breaking down in front of them but it wasn't easy for her.
I have a few plans how to handle the farm without turning it into a home business. I need to test them out first to see if they work.
Thanks for reading. :)
I just realised I read this update and Chase's obit out of order. I opened them both up this morning from Feedly, not paying attention to which one was first and didn't read this one until after work! Duh. Anyway, I'm all clear now at least.
ReplyDeletePoor Paige. I'm glad she has Jack to lean on, if she feels she has to be strong for the kids. Chase will be missed by everyone.
I hadn't noticed the age difference between Todd and Emma either but even though you'd just forgotten about Paige being on BC, it's nice to mix it up a bit. Not everyone has their children two to three years apart. :)
Well, the updates would appear in that order in Feedly so it's natural to make that mistake. No harm done. :)
DeleteI'm really glad that Jack was there for Paige. I honestly feared he would run off with Eve but apparently it really was just a short fling for him. Paige has learned to keep her composure in all situations so it's important to her to stay strong for everyone else. She was the one who kept things going on when Olivia died so I think that's when she assumed that role.
I think in a way it felt like Paige and Jack already had two kids before Emma because they had Frieda living with them for so long. My brother's 11 years older than me so big age differences don't seem that odd to me. And I know from experience that siblings with big age differences can become really close anyway.
Thanks for reading. :)