Anthony

Caroline

Camila

Alana

Mei

Heather

Brianna

Scott

    The sun rises on the little family in the dining room. It is a beautiful new day, and Caroline, Anthony, and Brianna are eating breakfast together. 

    “Are you excited for school today, Brianna?”   Caroline asks. 

      Brianna nods. “I can’t wait to see my friends!” 

     Anthony nods in agreement. “And tonight, your mom will have dinner with us when she’s home from her shift at the surgery center!”

    Both Brianna and Caroline smile at the reminder of the Friday family dinners they always have together. “Then let’s go to school right now so the day starts sooner!” Brianna exclaims. 

     Caroline and Anthony both laugh with their granddaughter. “Then hop in my car, honey. I’ll drive you!”

    The family gets in their car, and Caroline drives them to Brianna’s elementary school, bidding her granddaughter farewell with a hug that Brianna tightly returns, and a promise to see her after school. 

    After dropping Brianna off, Caroline and Anthony decide to go to the national park in their town. They will spend the morning doing some gentle exercise by walking the trails of the park as they talk and spend time together. 

    “This park is just the same as I remember it from all those years working here,” Anthony comments with a smile.  Anthony used to be a forest ranger for this park, and he has kept his love of nature into his older adulthood.

    “And it is just the same as I remember it, from the day you bumped into me with a clipboard in my hand to the day you got on one knee and put a ring on my finger,”  Caroline dreamily sighs, squeezing her husband’s hand tighter.  Caroline used to be an ecologist, and she met Anthony while collecting data for one of her research papers in this same national park. They both love nature and love this park in particular. 

    “That was one of the best days of my life,” Anthony says, happy tears glimmering in his eyes. “Along with the day I married you, and the days our darlings Heather and Brianna were born, too!”

    “I wholly agree, my love,” Caroline says. 

    A bird starts singing above their heads, and both turn to look at the animal and hear its song.

    “I think that’s a boat-tailed grackle!”  Caroline says.

    “It is indeed, love!” An idea comes to Anthony. “How about we play a game on our hike? Whoever can spot and identify the most birds wins!”

    “You’re on!”  Caroline laughs.

    The pair finishes their hike, making sure to hydrate.  Caroline ends up spotting more birds, though it was a very close game! Their hike finished, Caroline and Anthony get in the car to go to their next fun task of the day.

    After their hike, Caroline and Anthony get in their car and drive to the grocery store. They are going to shop for all the household necessities for the week, and their daughter Heather greatly appreciates their help running errands since she is often very busy with her surgical shifts and spending time with Brianna. 

    As they shop, Caroline notices something in the toy section of the supermarket. “Aw! Anthony, look at this teddy bear! Don’t you think Brianna would love it?”

     Caroline is holding a small, fluffy teddy bear with a smile.  Anthony takes it from her and scrutinizes it for a moment before nodding in agreement. “Let’s get it for her!”

     Anthony puts the teddy bear in the cart and Caroline giggles excitedly imagining her granddaughter’s happy face upon seeing the teddy bear. 

    Before they check out, Caroline and Anthony head to the small deli in the supermarket to have a quick lunch together. The pair chat lightly as they enjoy their sandwiches, enjoying the food and each other’s company before checking out and leaving the store.

Art Studio

    After leaving the store, Caroline and Anthony return home to get ready for the afternoon.  Anthony is going to drive to the beach cleanup that their volunteer organization is hosting.  Caroline and Anthony both joined an environmental volunteer organization in their local community to get involved in their passion for protecting the planet.  Caroline is a bit disappointed to miss out on the cleanup with Anthony, but she is still very happy to go to the painting class she has planned with her best friends Camila, Mei, and Alana. Today, Caroline is painting a colorful work for Brianna to hang up in her bedroom.

    “My Brianna loves purple, and so do I!” Caroline exclaims as she adds another stroke of lavender paint to her painting.

    “My favorite color is green, though you can’t quite tell that this is supposed to be a tree!” Camila ruefully jokes about her own painting. Camila is Caroline’s best friend, and the two women have been friends since high school. Camila is a fellow retired ecologist, and she considers Caroline to be an honorary sister to her because of how close they are. 

       “I think your tree looks lovely, Camila,” Mei begins. “Perhaps try to add more details to the leaves so you can see them better, though!” she helpfully points out. Mei is the newest member of their friend group, and the women all met and became friends at this painting class. Mei is far and away the most talented artist of the group because she is a retired painter, and she loves sharing her passion with her new friends.

        “These don’t really look like stars, more just like white dots of paint,” Alana laughs about her own painting. Alana met Camila and Caroline through the environmental volunteer organization, and she loves trying new things with her friends- like painting!

        “Stars are notoriously hard to paint, I’ll give you that,” Mei chuckles. 

        “Maybe I’ll switch to the moon,” Alana says, reaching for the gray paint. “It’s way easier to engineer a telescope to see the stars than it is to paint them!” Alana is a retired astronomer, and her passion for space is still strong in her older age!

    “So rocket science is easier than painting after all?" Mei jokes. 

        All of the friends laugh together, continuing their paintings as they lapse into an easy conversation together. The time flies quickly with her best friends, and soon enough, it is time for Caroline to go pick up Brianna from school.

        “I’ll see you all tomorrow at the museum with Brianna?” Caroline confirms. On Saturday, the friend group has plans to accompany Caroline to the local science and art museum. 

        “I wouldn’t miss it!” Camila exclaims as Mei and Alana also nod in agreement. 

        Caroline smiles and says goodbye to her friends before leaving the art studio.