{"id":1878,"date":"2026-05-06T20:33:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T20:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/?p=1878"},"modified":"2026-07-30T20:35:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T20:35:07","slug":"turn-a-different-corner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/turn-a-different-corner\/","title":{"rendered":"Turn a Different Corner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leaving for Portugal soon. Who knew this would be our ritual several times a year? I am grateful for the unexpected turns that life gives us. \u201cTurn a different corner, and we never would have met,\u201d croons George Michael.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I woke up with that melancholy song in my head. Missing my mother-in-law Anne, who is still alive at 90 but in the grips of later-stage Alzheimer\u2019s disease. I miss her stories, her laugh, the way she championed everyone around her. It\u2019s nice to have someone in your corner.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"820\" height=\"573\" src=\"https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Family.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1879\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Family.jpg 820w, https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Family-300x210.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Family-768x537.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Family-640x447.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mark and his parents with my family in 1994<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What if Mark and I had passed each other by at Florida State and I had never met his big, wonderful family? In the same friend group since 1988, we started dating in 1990. We\u2019d drive around in his Datsun, listening to his favorite cassettes (Bruce, Meatloaf, Depeche Mode, George Michael). One time on his way to visit his parents in Orlando, Mark\u2019s car broke down outside of Gainesville. It was the first time his parents and my parents met &#8211; and I wasn\u2019t there to witness it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Four years ago this spring we were celebrating the life of Mark\u2019s father, Tony. The whole family gathered in Albany. This morning I had that feeling of, \u201cwhere did the time go?\u201d Do we all still feel young in our hearts? Do familial memories float up for Anne, even though she can no longer communicate them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_4749-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1880\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_4749-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_4749-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_4749-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_4749-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_4749-480x640.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_4749.jpg 1909w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today I send out love to all that we hold dear, despite the years and miles between us. And to those who have left us, including a couple of friends in Portugal who have passed away, we hold you with us always. &#x1f497;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another melancholy song comes to mind (one of my favorites that Blossom Dearie sings):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pretending that we&#8217;ll meet<br>Each time I turn a corner<br>I walk a little faster<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pretending life is sweet<br>&#8216;Cause love&#8217;s around the corner<br>I walk a little faster<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And thinking you&#8217;ll be there<br>I walk a little faster<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thank goodness for melancholy songs. They help us see the light! &#x1f929;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here\u2019s my own melancholy tune, sending out to you. It\u2019s amazing what a few rays can do.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Fog\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eRbCmUIfK_o?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Leaving for Portugal soon. Who knew this would be our ritual several times a year? I am grateful for the unexpected turns that life gives us. \u201cTurn a different corner, and we never would have met,\u201d croons George Michael. I woke up with that melancholy song in my head. Missing my mother-in-law Anne, who is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1878\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evefleishman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}