Dedication [Catherine Blitz Oneshots]

[googlefont="Fredericka the Great:400"]Catherine Spark

This morning, one of my daughters, Cal, asked me a question that has so far remained on my mind for the rest of the day. She asked me: "Mom, how do you cope with it all? With losing them all to the Games? Ever since Dusty died I haven't known what to do."

I didn't want to tell her the truth. I didn't want to tell her that I've been drowning myself in my work to distract myself from the pain- because I didn't want her to do that. That didn't, by any means, mean I wasn't going to keep doing it myself, because I'd already been doing it for so long. It did mean, however, that I needed to find something to help both of us that wasn't just that.

"Cal," I told her. "Losing my children- your siblings- has been the biggest struggle of my life. I know how hard it can be, and I have a hard time coping with it, too. Honestly, I'm not quite sure how to deal with it all myself, either. How about this? How about we find something together. Something that we can do to feel better, together."

That's when I realized that not only did I want to make myself and my children feel better. I wanted to do that for the whole district. I had to think of a way I could help others, too.

-

wc: 232

[googlefont="Fredericka the Great:400"]Catherine Spark

Joule approached me this morning with a thought that she had had. She brought up the idea of, as part of my campaign for mayor, including an idea for a sort of way for the community to bond every Games, using something completely unrelated to the Games, regardless of whether or not the people had any relation to any tributes, past or present. Everyone would be welcome. There could be all sorts of events, one each Games, as a way to bring people together and get their minds away from tragedy.

Tragedy. That was something that my whole family knew all too well. No wonder Joule had suggested such an event. Had something like that existed when Bolts died, perhaps it would have been something that she got through a bit more easily. Of course, no death is easy to deal with, but aside from our family, she was very alone in the time of his death. She had very few friends, so she didn't have many people to go to. On top of that, she was very young, and didn't always know how to express her feelings had she actually had more people to talk to.

I was mourning at the time, too, but I should have supported her more. I wasn't as good of a mother as I could have been back then.

-

wc: 223

[googlefont="Fredericka the Great:400"]Catherine Spark

My date with Oscar went quite well. That's the name of the man that I met in the cafe- Oscar. He and I went out to a small, nearby diner for dinner and chatted much like we had before. We talked about our families, our hobbies and our lives in general. Although, I will admit, these conversations made me realize I don't have a whole lot of hobbies outside of work and family.

I suppose that's okay, though. My focus has always been on the things that are most important to me, and if those things are work and family, I guess that's okay. Perhaps, though, I realized, I should add to those things. Nothing says I have to take away from those important things in my life, but I can always add to them if I want. I tried to think of what other things were important to me. What sort of hobbies could I pick up? I"d always been a reader. Perhaps that was a good option.

Maybe there were even some books I could read that would potentially help me with the election. One never knows until they look.

Oscar told me a lot about himself. He loves to go for runs. He spends a lot of time with his daughters and he is pretty good at sewing. He'd actually made his own shirt that he was wearing on our date. I suppose, as time went on, maybe I'd learn some more things about myself so I could tell him. I think that'd make me happy.

-

wc: 256