Sunshine Logistics

February 18, 2026

Not one to waste time, after writing Sunshine Please I got straight to work.

Step one: secure a travel companion.

Step two: pick a destination.

Turns out those weren’t the hard parts.

It is a very nice feeling to send a text that says,

“Does anyone want to travel internationally?”

and have friends who immediately respond, “Yes! Pick me!”

After a few enthusiastic lists and light negotiations,

Malta became the intended destination.

Ancient cities.

Clear blue water.

European island energy.

Done.

The hard part now is the when.

I opened my calendar with optimism.

March?

Absolutely not. Already booked with a family trip.

April?

A cautious maybe. Except for the small detail of guiding a school district through critical budget deadlines.

And prom.

I would actually like to be here for prom.

There is a nonzero chance I might attempt to convince Jack to let me be his date.

I doubt he will. But a mom can dream.

So we move into May.

I think, Perfect. Clean slate.

No major commitments except graduation day.

And then I remember.

I have another child.

In college.

Who needs to move out in early May.

What the actual fuck.

When did that happen?

I am just venting.

Poor Katherine cannot simply jet off to an exotic European island filled with ancient stone walls and impossibly blue beaches on a whim.

There are budgets.

There are deadlines.

There are children launching into adulthood at alarming speed.

I understand it.

I even love it.

But this is also important to me.

The island.

The sunshine.

The reset.

And so now I am staring at my calendar like it is a chessboard,

determined to find a move that gives me both.

Because I have built a life I care about deeply.

And I also deserve a stretch of sun-soaked days in a place older than my worries.

We’ll figure it out.

Malta isn’t going anywhere.

And neither is my need for sunshine and some time away.