#TuesdayRain

There are -or at least there should be- a few main constants in life:

Church

School

Work

Therapy

And Weather

On many Tuesdays in 2017 and 2018, I awoke to a single umbrella emoji texted from one of my best friends from college, Krissy:

And so, #TuesdayRain officially became ‘a thing.’

Tuesdays are notoriously busy- often jam-packed with work meetings, extracurricular activities, medical appointments, sporting events, dating, and the like- for me and my fellow Millennial friends.  Eventually we noticed that during our hectic Tuesday pace, there was usually one predominant theme: rain.  And in the winter, there was snow, which is just cold rain after all.

In 2017, Krissy and I lamented that we had not tracked the Tuesday weather on paper.  The more we mentioned this phenomenon to others in our local area, the more heads nodded in confirmation of requiring raincoats on Tuesdays.  In 2018, we resolved to document the Tuesday precipitation events on a calendar.  Although analyzing the weather patterns of every day of the week would make for a more scientific inquiry, it surely would not be as fun.  There’s just something about solo Tuesdays.

 

“Beautiful outside, isn’t it?” the parking lot attendant quips as I pull my car into the safety of the dry garage.

“It rains almost every Tuesday!” I retort, sprinting towards the office doors.

 

“Fun fact: Did you know that it has rained for 11 out of the past 12 Tuesdays?” became the most creative introductory line on dating apps this fall season, in our humble opinions.

 

The rain is my loyal companion when commuting to and from Tuesday doctor’s appointments in Boston traffic.  No matter the health prognosis, life somehow goes on for the moment, as evidenced by the steady cadence of the droplets falling on the windshield.

“Look at that sky!” is how my doctor and I often begin our sessions.

 

In 2018, it precipitated on 29 Tuesdays in southern New England / Boston.  November 2018 is particularly notable, having rained every Tuesday that month.  For the record, the first day of 2019 was a Tuesday.  And of course it rained!  Our meticulous calendars reflect this data.

Yet, I also know this because my mind hones in on such dates and patterns, weaves the world together in this way.

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I spent the larger part of my “adulting” years, unfortunately, yelling at God.  “Why does my mind have to be stuck on that thought, that painful memory?!!” and so on.  I lost so much time engaging in these cycles while somehow managing to survive, and, even, to succeed, at various endeavors.  Now, I simply try to be cognizant of this concept and to move forward.

Despite the chaos, however, I have still experienced brief moments resembling peace, rare times when my mind was so fixated on the colorful pattern of the Oriental rug or the pitter-patter of the rain that I finally knew quiet in the midst of the loud.

#TuesdayRain has been that calming song, that unifying presence in the community, that dependable force no matter how turbulent the times.  Truly good friends, good doctors, and heck, even good parking lot attendants, are hard to come by.  How blessed are we to get to weather the storms in awe together.

 

 

*Calendar photo credits: Salve Regina University 2018 Calendar