Past and Present

5

Lenten Season is officially done, so I'm back to updating this again. Enjoy!

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MONACO GRAND PRIX

Since I was not in attendance at any of the races for almost five years, dad told me I needed to renew my F1 ID again; thankfully he got that sorted out last night with the FIA and it was delivered early in the morning at the house. As for my sabbatical, my parents were supportive of my decision, dad even went with me to Princess Grace Hospital to talk with the Chief of Surgery; dad might've bribed him with paddock club tickets for 3 European grand prix weekend – so my 6 month sabbatical was granted with ease.

"Is mum really going to be okay with taking care of Addison during my sabbatical?" I asked my dad as he drives us to the paddock here in Monaco. 

My dad smiles at me, "you don't have to worry, Schuyler. If it would cause less commotion, I would've taken my grand daughter away from you and take her to all races myself just so you can rest."

Mum's the current managing director for F1 Academy -- it's the female racing competition that would help future girls who aspire to hold an F1 seat and for those who will be transitioning from karting to competitive racing. It hasn't created much noise yet but it's a starting point for the future of creating a diverse gender neutral Formula 1 grid. This year's their inaugural season and mum's bringing the ladies to different circuits much like its counterpart; and when I told her about my sabbatical during breakfast, she immediately asked if she could take Addison with her. I hesitated at first since it'll be the first time that Addison and I will be months apart from each other, but mum said something that made me eventually say yes to her proposition.

"Schuyler, you deserve to rest. You've been alone for five years, we respected your decision that you wanted to figure everything out by yourself. But hunny, we are your family and now that you're home again – at least give us the opportunity to let you rest and start taking care of yourself again."

I've always been so grateful for my parents but now that I'm a mom myself, I can't help but appreciate them both even more.

As soon as I saw the familiar parking lot of the paddock, I can't help but start to feel a quite scared and mixed with excitement for the race. My dad waits for me to go out and I can already see some of the media taking pictures of him and greeting him good morning, I took a deep breath and got out of the car. I fix my sunglasses and grabs my father's arm for support as we make our way to the paddock; I kept my head low as some of the journalists finally recognized me and started taking pictures of me as well. We head straight to the Mercedes hospitality and the staff who were familiar of me recognized me and greeted me.

"My oh my, if it isn't Dr. Schuyler Wolff in the flesh." Lewis declared as he hugs me, "Correct? It's Doctor now, right?" 

I flash him a smile while I nod and hugs back, "Hey Lewis! I missed you!"

Lewis and I were catching up when my phone started going off with the notifications, the cat's out of the bag, I guess. "So where have you been hiding for the last five years? Toto's lips were sealed, it was so hard to break him." He asks as I let out a small laugh about his remarks about my father. You see, as soon as Lewis signed with Mercedes, he became like my older brother and I feel so guilty for not being able to tell him about what happened to me in the last five years that I was hiding.