still under water

So really Kauia was amazing and this has to be the best family vacation picture ever. The snorkeling company we were with (they take you out in a zodiac) had a photographer along because they were working on a new website. So here we all are, mom, dad and the 2 youngest - one of whom just graduated from college on the 5 and 1/2 year plan and one missing a week of 3rd grade. "Dad" (or "hey dad...as he is known in the family) is going down for a better shot. The 8 year old's right next to mom because he still wasn't too sure about snorkeling and was being bribed to keep his head down (he did have to put his head :up to shout, "this is awesome"- which sounds kinda funny underwater. Maybe that is why the turtle is diving away. Still it all was pretty awesome. Right before this we'd been watching a humpback and calf repeatedly breeching and splashing back into the sea. Just close enough to be amazing but not scary. We pretty well ran out of adjectives while we were there. We knew real life was continuing on the "mainland" as we islanders like to call every where else, but we ignored it. The occasional text updating us that Grandma was in the hospital again just floated on by. I left the messages in the bottle. I felt so young there...
 ... which is about when the bursitis kicked in. Three weeks later and Grandma is back with her other daughter and I am still on "break" except for teaching 2 classes and trying not to confuse them. One is twice a week undergrad, the other once a week grad students but meeting in the same room which makes it hard to remember where I am lecture wise at moments (bad moments, moments I am again glad no one else hears the voices in my head). It's like that for my mom I guess. Only much worse. She knows she is forgetting what she just said. But it's up and down so sometimes it seems like she is just the same mom she has been for so very, very long. And then I see that a little bit of her is not quite here. And I am the same girl too I was and then some doctor has to tell me they can see I have spinal arthritis but of course it's just what they see at my age. My daughter told us (mom and dad) that we still look like teenagers - just old ones. Underwater this might be true. Especially since American teens today weigh more than they used to. Anyway I can't sleep worrying the college grad won't get a job - and neither will I after this semester.
  And we got the eldest new orthotics, still at the local Children's hospital since no one else really does CP. I actually haven't seen them yet since the only time I saw him this week was when he was on his way to the Y for swimming and the "boots" don't float (and neither will the bill -ha ha, a medical cost joke). I am looking forward to going back to the islands...