Life with Lo

My niece Lauren was able to get an OT internship at Brook’s Rehab here in Palm Coast to finish up her Master’s program. Her mom and her sister Jessie drove down with her from Michigan in early May arriving Friday, and she was to start work (with no pay!) the following Monday. After getting her all set up in her room and bathroom, and after a couple fun days at the beach, she took her mom and sister to the airport to become part of our family, if only for a few months.

She took to Florida like she was born here. She figured out pretty quickly that on the two days she worked in Ormond Beach, she was out early enough to hit the gym, running on the treadmill while watching the ocean, then she’d head to the beach to work on her tan. She had two longer days in Palm Coast and one day in St. Augustine. She did homework at night, wrote and received letters, received care packages, went to the gym, and went to the beach either with us or without us as often as she could.

Nothing gives me more pleasure than to see someone enjoy our area as much as I do. Lauren enjoyed the area! During her first month of boogie-boarding, every wave brought a woop and a squeal of delight.(See video below.) She was a natural!  She’d put her board, chair, and beach bag in her car when she left for work, and when she walked in the door at night, I could tell if she’d been to the ocean. She and Thom would go even if I didn’t feel like it. The only thing that might get her out of the water is when Thom would say, “Uh-oh…”  To her, that meant he saw something in the water that she didn’t want to know about.

My mom always says fish and company smell after three days. Not true. Lauren was a pleasure since day one. She has a wonderful disposition. She cooked, cleaned her area and patted the dogs.She’d watch tv with us, scrapbook on the table, or have coffee with us on the lanai. She’d say really funny things.  She is highly disciplined and would get herself to the gym even when she’d rather not. She bought her share of groceries, though we didn’t want her to. Her sense of humor and genuine surprise and delight were so much fun to experience.

She says she’d love to get a job down here. I can only hope. I understand why her mom and dad want her back home so badly. She is a wonderful young woman.

And I will miss her now that she’s gone.