May 23, 2025
I went to sleep last night and woke up with a nauseating migraine I have not experienced in several years. Maybe the stress of travel. The stress of doing different stuff. The stress of grief. The stress of being alone. The stress of drinking tepid water. Maybe all of the above. I don’t know. SL and Adam and a few friends went to an amusement park in Stoke-on-Trent called Alton Towers. SL met her long-time bestest friend, Daniel, who she met online over 9 years ago. They never met in person until now and this was very special for SL. It was also Daniel’s birthday and a good reason to have some fun and do whatever it is the cool kids do. After they left, I crawled back in bed and managed to hide from the light for another few hours. I got up like a hungry bear coming out of hibernation and the pain from the migraine was a bit less. I went over to the M&S across from the hotel to shop around and then stopped at a Subway to get a sandwich before heading back up to the room. Once the kids were back from dropping off the friends, I got to meet Daniel briefly before he caught the train back home. I instantly liked this kid. Definitely the only highlight of this very lonely, unproductive day.
