Love Like Sunlight

May summer fill your lives
with love like sunlight in the forest,
gentle and steady,
home ablaze with family warmth.

Happy Anniversary

Email from Dan to Ellie:

I think I spelled anniversary wrong on my note this morning. Dummy me!

Anyways happy anniversary. You're the love of my life and I would walk to the end of the universe to be with you. 

Hope you have a good day. 

Eternal and infinite love,

Dan 

Rave Reviews

Email from Ellie to Mom (Monkey) and Faffy:

The director of the legal clinic just strongly encouraged that I apply for advanced clinic in the future. He said it is based on his approval of student past performance, and I have done "really, REALLY well," and he knows he can expect excellent work from me, so "your admittance is a guarantee."

Pretty awesome. I have gotten several other rave reviews this semester, including: "if you were an attorney, I would recommend you for early partner." (the supervising attorney in tax law.)

:)


Email from Faffy to Ellie:

Nice going, Ellie.  Not that any of us are surprised!

Love, Pop

Email from Mom (Monkey) to Ellie:

Wow. We are incredibly impressed, and proud of you. Great job.
Love you,
Yo proud mama

Hawthorne House

From Ellie to Mom (Monkey), Faffy, and Dan:

Hey,

Well, we have decided we like Ladd's Addition and Hawthorne area as much as John's Landing. They are more established neighborhoods with families and playgrounds etc, have more restaurants and stores and stuff that is fun going on, and have better public transportation. they're further from the law school, but they're equidistant from downtown, closer to the saturday market area of downtown.

pros and cons to both.

dan saw the hawthorne house today and really really liked it, too. im attaching some pictures, because the ones on the listing were terrible.

You Okay?

Email from Dan to Ellie:

You okay? Worried about you. Hope you're okay. Sleeping perhaps?
Doubtful. So so so very proud of you and I feel very bad for you. Love
you forever. Pls call or write!  :)

Sad News

Email from Ellie to Family and Friends:

I want to get this over with, so I don't have keep re-telling the story - as
of today, I am no longer pregnant.

It's better now than later - since most likely it was something wrong with
the baby. Better to have a natural and fairly early loss. On the other hand,
I wish it had happened far earlier (or not at all) - before I had known
about the pregnancy, with months to imagine the baby as a new family member.
(Darn technology and its early detection.)

I had some symptoms on Thursday. On Friday at the OB the baby wasn't
measuring right - either something was wrong, or my dates were way off. The
OB was somewhat concerned, she said to remember that about 1 in 5
pregnancies end in miscarriage, etc. - which made me suspect and start to
mentally prepare, even while hoping for the best. For those of you who tend
to worry - there is no reason to believe that this will affect my health or
future ability to have a baby, particularly since I have already carried a
baby to term.

Well, I got the bad news out, hopefully answering any questions you might
have had. If it's okay, I don't want to discuss it in further detail. It
feels very personal, but unfortunately it's the kind of news that can't be
kept private.

In that vein, please do go ahead and tell anyone that already knows about
the pregnancy, particularly if they bring it up. The more I can avoid
discussing this, the better. I'm dreading all the people who know about the
pregnancy, who I know will ask, "so when are you due again?" and other
questions of that nature.

And now, back to the appellate brief due tomorrow, courtesy of law school
the life-eater. (Yes, I could probably get an extension out of this, but a)
its a good distraction, and b) sabotaging law school will only make me feel
worse.)


Much love,

Ellie


Email from Hayley to Ellie and Dan:

We love you guys - please give Teddy an extra big hug for us.

All our love,

Hay and Jay

Email from Ellie to Hayley:

Hey Ms Hay -

Never got a chance to chat with you - good luck with your surgery.

- Ellie (& the boys)


Email from Jordan to Ellie:

I've been thinking about your loss all day and how sad it must be for your family.  I'm very happy to hear that it sounds like more wonderful kids like Teddy will be in your future when you are ready.

Seeing you with him in DC made me more excited to be a mom - it was clear that you took utter delight in the role and that Dan is right there with you.  I am daunted by the prospect of motherhood in part because my dad was not around to be much of a parent, but seeing the way that you and Dan divide up the job despite demanding careers is inspiring.  I don't know when I will become a parent, but when I do, I know I'll be turning to you for advice!

Anyhow, just know that I'm thinking about you and yours.

Email from Erica to Ellie:

I love you Ellie.  And I'm with you in sadness.  That's it, really.
So much love to you and your family,
E

Email from Marilyn to Ellie and Dan:

Oh, Ellie and Dan, I am sad for you. But you have many fertile years ahead. Take care of yourself. See you soon.

Love, nana

Email from Leslie to Ellie:

Ellie,

so sorry to hear you're not pregnant anymore. if you ever do want to talk about it i'm always available to lend an ear, but of course i understand if you don't want to talk about it. does friday still work for you? looking forward to seeing you, dear one.

love always

les

Email from Ellie to Leslie:

yeah friday works. we can talk when you get here - but im doing okay.

love you,

ellie

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