[Adventure] Thirteen

[Adventure 47]

My youngest child is thirteen years old. Alia was born her own person, wandering down her own path. Said path has lots of twists and turns and unexpected obstacles and may or may not wend its way in and out of reality. But it's hers. 

Alia has accumulated many skills over her thirteen years. She can dissect small animals and large animal's body parts. She can play the ukulele, paint, draw, tattoo, crochet, sing, dance, act, do gymnastics, cook, and organize the heck out of just about anything. She does her best to use her obsessive compulsive disorder powers for good. She also does her best to give her mother heart attacks by living up to the nickname "dangergirl" that her siblings bestowed on her when she was a mere toddler. Her hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome means that she tends to bend or dislocate, not break, which works to her advantage in some situations. 

At the beginning of her thirteenth year, Alia got a part in a mainstage production, performed in Epoch Arts' Arts Response to Mental Health, and 

Alia has spent the better part of her thirteenth year in quarantine. She has ventured to Camp Calumet on a few occasions for quarancamp with our family, going tubing, hiking, swimming, and on scavenger hunts. 

She destroyed things in the process of working on our house, as one does when one spends most of their time there due to a global pandemic.

She joined the Reach the Beach Walking Challenge, RTB 2.0, and Run4Camp to raise money for Camp Calumet.

She went to doctor appointments and stayed home for telemedicine visits. She took part in a medical study on pain. She spent a good deal of time at church recording music for online worship, making strange videos wearing an animal head - also for church, doing earthkeeping ministry tasks, organizing a book sale, and even playing ukulele and singing during outdoor worship. She took part in online summer camp and paint nights with Epoch Arts peeps. She met up for a socially distanced anniversary gift exchange with her boyfriend. She spent great amounts of time playing and chatting online with friends and playing Dungeons & Dragons with friends and with her siblings & parents. She even gave her mother a few tattoos.

I'm sure I've missed a bunch of things, but, needless to say, Alia has had quite a full year despite covid-19. 

I look forward to seeing what adventures her fourteenth year of life brings! (As long as nothing involves a trip to the ER!

Happy 13, Alia!