Author: L.J. LaBree

Well folks,

After what seemed like an eternity of staying indoors, self-quarantining, and Zoom meetings, the year 2020 is – FINALLY! – coming to an end.

I can’t even begin to tell you all how excited I am to see this crappy year leave and watch the door smack it on its tuchus on the way out.

Of course, I know the hardships and strife won’t magically end once the clock strikes midnight. Not even the fairy godmother from Cinderella can do that.

What’ll most likely happen (worst-case scenario) is we’ll still see Covid cases rise again because people are failing to adhere to CDC guidelines, people protesting having to wear a mask at all times, and people arguing whether or not the new vaccines will even work. In fact, I just recently read a news blurb about a hospital worker who purposefully left out over 50 doses of the virus vaccine, thus rendering them utterly useless. Why this person did it, I’ll never understand.

But then again, I feel a sense of hope growing deep down in my gut. 2021 isn’t going to be an exact repeat of 2020. There’s going to be some changes coming. Good changes.

And I know for a fact that my gut is rarely wrong.

So here’s what I also believe will happen: People will be more mindful of their actions, as well as the actions of others. More and more jobs capable of working from home will pop up, as well as jobs in the office. We’ll all gain skills we didn’t have before, which in turn will make us better human beings. We’ll be more kind and considerate to one another. And, We’re going to become more creative in our problem-solving and thought processes.

That being said, I will say the year 2020 has taught me some hard lessons. Looking back, I believe I needed to learn them, especially if I wanted to grow better in this world.

I learned that plans don’t always work out the way I wanted them to. But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t adapt and improvise. I learned that yes, my emotions (even the negative ones) are very much valid, but if I keep wading and floating in them, nothing will ever get done. On top of those, I learned I am only as strong as I believe myself to be. The only thing holding me where I am today is me. No one else has that power over me. Not future companies I will work for, not my parents, not even past co-workers who didn’t want me around.

If I want to achieve the dreams I’ve had in my head of how my life should be, then I need to get up, reach out, and make my mark on this world. It won’t be easy, of that I am most certain. And most likely, it won’t be something that will happen over night. But I will be damned if I won’t give it as many tries as possible!

So here’s to you all! I raise my glass and give this toast: I thank 2020 for teaching us the hard lessons we needed to learn, and I wish 2021 to bring all the hope and new beginnings she has in store for us.

As a teenager, I hated prom with a passion. To me, it was nothing more than a nightmare wrapped in garish lights and waaaay to much glitter.

As an adult, I didn’t know how much I needed, and loved, this Broadway musical-turned-movie ‘The PROM’!!

If you have a Netflix account, I cannot even express how much you need to watch it!

Okay, here’s the summary:

Four comically self-centered (and yet so endearing in each of their own creative way) Broadway stars in a rough patch (Meryl Streep, James Corden, Nicole Kidman, and Andrew Rannells) travel to a small town in Indiana to support a kind and innocent teenage girl (Jo Ellen Pellman) in her fight against the school PTA to bring her girlfriend to prom.

While at first, the Broadway stars’ main goal is to stir up enough publicity to send themselves to the top, they see the real-time hurt and dilemma that Emma (Pellman) goes through just to survive day-to-day life. With the help of the (in my own personal opinion) totally awesome principal (Keegan Michael Key) and reflecting on their own hurtles and hoops they had to dive through, each star steps up to the plate and proves to the town, and to the rest of the world, that not only is it okay to break free from the traditional cookie-cutter personality in this life, it’s the new “in”.

Here’s what I took from the film:

While this movie is every bit of the Musical-comedy it proclaims itself to be in the trailers, Writers Bob Martin, Chad Beguelin, Matthew Sklar, and Jack Viertel were by no means afraid to tackle very real opposition and unbridled hatred toward those who prefer to love regardless of gender, race, and everything in between.

My heart broke for Emma, seeing her try to stay positive even though so many – both in and out of the high school – wanted to see her crumpled up on the floor and crying a river down the hall. It wanted to sing with her as she let each note try to lift her spirits, and hold her tongue until she was old enough to leave behind that small-town life and frame of mind. I wanted to roar and snarl at anyone who dared throw a jeer toward her. And it swelled and flowed buckets upon buckets of love for her when she finally got to take her girlfriend to the prom they always wanted.

If you have a Netflix account, or bumming off one of your fabulous and generous family members/friends and haven’t seen this movie yet, stop watching whatever you’re currently bingeing and switch over immediately! If you don’t have an account, see if one of your friends are willing to let you jump on theirs!

Even if you don’t end up liking it (musicals just aren’t some people’s cup of tea *cough* my father *chough*), I still encourage you and your family to watch this movie!

It feels like my heart is breaking all over again.

One day shy of losing my Binx one year ago, I have found out I may have to go through that pain all over again.

Today started out bright, sunny, and assuring myself that my cat Pepper’s vet appointment would go smoothly.

It wasn’t supposed to be anything serious; she would be going in to scrape out the polyps in her ear, receive some strong medication, and wear the Cone of Shame for three to four weeks.

And yet, Fate seems to love lobbing grapefruit-sized curveballs at my head.

Just before noon, I received a call from Dr. Packard. (On a side note, this doctor is one of the best veterinarians I have ever met! I cannot sing her praises enough! If I could, I would marry this woman! But I’m straight and I’m pretty sure she’s married. Lucky Bastard of a husband!)

Dr. Packard told me that her kidney levels were a little high, but we had already expected that and had Pepper and her sisters on Kidney Care dry kibble.

She then took a breath, waited a heartbeat, and told me that during the normal x-ray procedure they do to double check everything… they found something surprising.

They found a tumor near Pepper’s lungs and heart.

My brain couldn’t wrap around the information Dr. Packard was telling me. It could only focus on the next step: Prednisone, antibiotics, and hoping that the tumor shrinks. If it doesn’t, then we could either go the chemo route, or get a referral to a specialist down in Portland for treatment.

Now that I’ve had time to fully digest the information, I can honestly tell you all that I am distraught. I’ve been crying off and on for the past 2 1/2 hours, my heart hurts, and it feels like the whole world is falling out from beneath my feet.

I know this is part of life. I know she’s old –15 years! — but I’ve had this cat since the summer before high school. She’s one of the last two of my childhood cats. (I don’t normally include Spooky, mostly because we found her the week before Halloween in my senior year, but it is still technically my childhood, right?) She’s the one who chose me, not the other way around. She wouldn’t pay any attention to the other kids who were volunteering at the humane society the same time I was. There was even this one little boy who wanted her to pay attention to him, but she just turned around and refused to even acknowledge him. When it was my turn, she immediately leapt up, jumped into my arms before I could even get the door open, and purred away into my ear.

I thought I was not okay when Binx passed. I can tell you I will definitely not be okay when my Pepper goes.

I guess all I can do now is hope and pray that the medications work, and I’ll get to keep her for another couple years.