ESCAPE

This was a hard week, and this is a hard post to blog. Hanna's closest colleague and mentor Julie, who was working with her on a multitude of collaborative projects and was supposed to introduce her to the new job, died completely unexpectedly in an accident last Tuesday. The personal and professional loss are immense (and not distinguishable).

Good things happened too, so we will try and focus this post on what helped process the shock and get through the sadness.

Most importantly, many people called, stopped by, or wrote to show their support and sympathy - THANK YOU!

Also Samu was extra-nice an learned to dress himself completely independently. (How does he always seem to know when things are serious?)

Hanna and Marko figured out a common project and get to have a professional meeting on a weekly basis now.

Our new curtains arrived.

There was comfort food.

And success in Finnish soccer.

The kids were creative.

And most of the time in a ridiculously good mood. 

Fall is beautiful.

And we have each other.

After living in shock and disbelief for a week, attending Julie's funeral, and sleeping a lot, we decided it was time for an escape. Or should we say es-CAPE. 

On the way to Cape Cod.

Crossing the Canal.

Although we didn't plan it that way, we spent all day in the first town we liked: Sandwich.

Dexter's Grist Mill.

Our highlight: The boardwalk leading across the swamp to the beach.

Swamp and beach.

And finally: Hello, ocean!

Sofia was busy collecting giant rocks.

While Samu spent the whole time hunting this seagull, trying to explain to him why he couldn't eat our food.

Heading back we paused at the swamp.

And, as a last stop, we hit a playground nearby. 

After this trip, we finally feel our spirits coming back. Although the next weeks and months will be rough, they don't seem an impossible challenge anymore. We will always remember Julie and do our best to honor her legacy.