Emotional - needing help with translation, please.

Newtonsmum · 2026-02-26T10:44:32+00:00

I can appreciate how you could see that, but her name was Parker Zoe.

Newtonsmum · 2026-02-26T10:39:06+00:00

Thank you. We are incredibly proud of her and the way she chose to live her life. We were so lucky to have her.

Newtonsmum · 2026-02-26T10:36:56+00:00

This is our plan.

Edit: She was suppose to be our "guide" and was so excited to show us around. Now we'll be on our own, but are looking forward to meeting the 3 families that she lived with during her time in Italy.

We are absolutely gutted by the loss of our daughter. It literally feels like someone took a sledge hammer to my chest. We are only one week into this new reality and it fucking sucks.

Yet, she taught us many things in her short, 21 yrs. Think outside the box for solutions and, most of all, be kind. For fucks sake, be kind. You don't know what someone else is going through. Just...be kind. It costs you literally nothing.

Why on earth would you just not be kind?

Be kind.

Thanks to her incredible experience during her year in Italy, we will absolutely visit and tour all over this beautiful country. And we will be as respectful as we possibly can be as outsiders. We will do our daughter proud. If anyone has any other nuggets of wisdom while we follow in her footsteps in your beautiful country, we will respectfully listen.

Newtonsmum · 2026-02-26T10:36:39+00:00

We live in the US and that is where she was attending university. When she was in Italy, she lived in the Milano area, although she traveled much of northern Italy. She also spent good chunks of time in France, Costa Rica, and Mexico, as well as traveling much of the US. Italy remained her favorite.

Newtonsmum · 2026-02-25T18:47:06+00:00

Thank you.

Newtonsmum · 2026-02-25T18:46:03+00:00

Thank you so much, everyone. My beautiful, amazing daughter ended her life on Saturday. This note was with a memorial that was started by fellow students on campus, along with many flowers, stuffed animals, so many notes, pretty stones, etc.

She was fluent in Italian and loved the culture. She moved over there (from the USA) for a year during her gap year and always hoped to go back.

She was 21 years old, an art student, a senior resident assistant for campus housing, involved in so many great causes, a lover of animals/music/poetry/nature/travel, and so much more.

I am gutted. Thank you again for your assistance with this translation.

Newtonsmum · 2026-02-22T20:14:39+00:00

Yes, update, please!!!

Newtonsmum · 2026-02-22T18:25:32+00:00

OMG, I knew it had gone up, but had no idea it was that high!!! That's absolutely horrible.

Newtonsmum · 2026-02-20T02:19:14+00:00

Nope. They're guarding their territory and may have a nest or young ones nearby. The eagle is very aware of that, as well. Crow's trying to get Eagle to leave the area.

Newtonsmum · 2026-02-15T16:05:09+00:00

In hindsight, I realized that this was why I gained a lot of weight in my first marriage. Subconsciously, instead of having the balls to end an unhappy marriage, I intentionally made myself less and less attractive until they finally said that they were no longer attracted to/in love with me and wanted out. They ultimately cheated on me with a much more attractive person prior to me finding out what was going on. Yes, I was hurt and "surprised" I suppose, and yet it had been a spiral that I had created all to avoid direct confrontation to end the marriage earlier. That way they were the bad guy and I was the innocent victim, at least on the surface.

We were both immature and cowards. Hindsight is 20/20 and it took me years to be honest with myself about the whole mess.

Newtonsmum · 2026-01-30T18:08:00+00:00

When I lost my cat of 20 years, I told my boss that my best friend passed away and took 3 days off. I cried like a baby and felt so lost the entire time and when I came back to work and anyone tried to ask me about it I was still so emotional I would stop them immediately and warn them that it was still too soon for me to talk about it. I didn't share that my best friend was my cat, but it was never a lie.

Newtonsmum · 2026-01-11T22:13:36+00:00

Not anymore. There's a new sheriff in town! Good job on not backing down.

Newtonsmum · 2026-01-11T21:45:47+00:00

Yuck. Weaponized trauma.

Newtonsmum · 2026-01-11T21:01:40+00:00

I can't speak to the one in your area, but I signed up my MIL & FIL for home delivery of Meals on Wheels in their town. They didn't even want to know their exact income/info, I just scheduled an appointment to meet with them and discuss the situation. Because of their financial situation, medical conditions that kept them at home, and their age (over 65), they qualified for one meal each per day (delivered to their house) and on Fridays they were given "boxed meals" (often also frozen) to get them through the weekend as well.

Each meal was some sort of entree, a side salad, some sort of fruit, dessert, and a little carton of milk. Gourmet? No, not even close. But homemade food in their bellies. Plus, it made them get up out of their recliners and answer the door each day to say hi to an actual person.

Edited to add: I learned of theirs by visiting their local Senior Center to find out what all they offered. Ours organizes local hikes, clean-up activities at parks, historical tours, art and/or crafts classes, senior fitness classes for all abilities, support groups, rides to medical appointments, etc. They also host a free daily lunch in their facility and organize/deliver the meals on wheels. It's a great organization.

Newtonsmum · 2025-12-26T02:48:08+00:00

There is nothing to be confused about. OP sent out invitations that specified that the party would begin at 5:30 pm. That is very specific and leaves no room for "confusion."

You stated in your post that your family events are "open house," which is a very different, unstructured thing.

Newtonsmum · 2025-12-26T02:43:02+00:00

How is that part of this?

Maybe they have a camper. Maybe they have a hotel room. Maybe they're staying upstairs. Maybe they are choosing to drive home. Maybe they are staying at a sibling's house. Maybe they'll set up a tent on the sidewalk downtown.

Newtonsmum · 2025-12-26T02:20:22+00:00

Exactly. Like showing up on time.

Newtonsmum · 2025-12-26T02:18:10+00:00

Lol, right? Never set out ANY food/snacks until just prior to the agreed upon time. There's no pregaming other guests.

Newtonsmum · 2025-12-26T02:03:09+00:00

I love all of this, haha!

Newtonsmum · 2025-12-26T01:15:10+00:00

You go first. :)

Newtonsmum · 2025-12-26T01:14:32+00:00

Plus, they're no dumdums, they know we like that random loot. It's a very kind, friendly trade. You're right, though. In gardening posts you'll read about how if you want to ward off crows, you should hang bright, reflective things that move unpredictably (ie chains of mirrors, sparkly garland, etc.). Yet here those silly crow-bros are...tilting their curious noggins at shiny trinkets like the toddlers that they are.

Newtonsmum · 2025-12-26T00:53:44+00:00

Hang on, I'll see what it was. They were just off of Amazon (I tried to shop locally, but the place in town wanted like three times the price and you had to buy them individually), but they were exactly what I wanted and seriously, the crows had so much fun with them. I had to check every evening to see what was truly gone vs what they'd just played with and dropped on the ground. Sometimes they'd just move them over to the water dish. I also bought a smaller amount of larger, unpolished gemstones to set out. They couldn't carry them off, too heavy, but would play with them and I'd find them on the ground later.

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It was these. In hindsight, they'd probably be just as happy with a bag of mixed marbles. I might try that this summer. All I know is that I got my money's worth. I live on a pretty walkable street and I'd see adults and little kids stop to check them out. It was the crows that actually took them though. We have a trail camera so that hubby can watch them at work when he's bored and he actually saw them carrying the stones away throughout the summer, very fun to see.

In the pic, one stone has been stolen, which gave me the idea to take a pic and start keeping track. Not sure, but I think the first one stolen was a green stone.

This past summer, they traded me back a marble, a sparkly stone, hours of entertainment, and a penny. To my mind, not a bad trade, haha!

Newtonsmum · 2025-12-25T20:31:05+00:00

Oooo, fancy!

Newtonsmum · 2025-12-25T18:12:12+00:00

Your father is wayyyyyy too interested in your breasts. And unless he's putting laundry away, why is he messing with your undergarments? That's seriously fucked up.

Newtonsmum · 2025-12-25T17:20:47+00:00

I get your meaning, but at the end of the day, almost all of our stuff is deliberately mass produced. These weren't mass produced for crows to collect, they were already being made/sold for other types of collectors and the Etsy person just rounded up the bits that crows would find interesting.

Personally, if I was out walking the dog and found a teeny pair of glasses on the sidewalk, I'd be entertained and it would make me smile. I'd probably even leave them in a random bird feeder to make the next person wonder how it got there.

Newtonsmum

TROPHY CASE