Bland Normalcy Didn’t Last

Last updated on June 21, 2025

Susan and I don’t want life to be too interesting. The bland normalcy with which we began 2025 was nice.

So… things got interesting.

• Leigh chose to have back surgery to correct her scoliosis.
• Leigh had to have staples in her scalp after falling and hitting her head at school, right before the scheduled back surgery.
• Anne was accepted into a new charter school, the same campus that her sister attends.
• Anne joined a competitive summer swim league, which met every weekday during May and June.
• I accepted a teaching position for 2025–26.

There was a lot more happening these last few months, but those events are more than enough to exhaust us.

I take Anne to her swim practices, while Susan handles the weekend swim meets. Susan often takes Leigh to her music lessons, while I attend her performances. We do all we can to balance parenting duties.

I hope we are good role models for the girls.

My first priority is and always will be our daughters.

I was able to take Leigh to most of her medical appointments. Not every father has that opportunity.

We let Leigh choose whether or not to have spinal surgery now, between her seventh and eighth grade years. Her orthopedic specialist said surgery was likely, and sooner might offer an easier recovery experience. Leigh loves swimming and music. Both are physically demanding. Opting for surgery now gives her time to recover during middle school.

Plans vs. Reality

I began 2025 with a simple plan: be a good father and, when I wasn’t helping the girls, write, and write some more. I’d update various websites, finish two books with Leigh, and work on some nonfiction projects. If I had any extra energy, I was going to get back to playwriting and some poetry, too.

Returning to teaching full-time wasn’t on my to-do list. I had no expectation of returning to teaching after making the decision not to renew my contract at a respected research university. I had hoped to remain at the university until my body had other plans. The commute had been too much for my body. I took a non-teaching job closer to home and was miserable. In the fall of 2024, I had to seek treatment for spinal pain.