God help the girl

Round 30: January 2032 (Summer)

last update/next update

Julian Sitko is 82, Caterina is 77, David is 50, Kirstin is 48 and Adelaide is 14.
(Camilla and Lila are both 19, Oliver and Sebastian are both 16 and Veronica is 15)

Narrated by Adelaide Sitko

Right at the end of last year, Grandpa decided to retire. He really loved his job but he couldn't handle it physically any more. Caterina has been hoping he'd retire since before they got married, so she's happy.

And I've loved having him around so often as well. With the diner, as well as his office job, he was gone a lot before.

Half the time though, he's seemed almost depressed at being home. He didn't really want to stop working.

He hasn't been feeling well at all and Mum has been really worried about him.

I've been scared that we'd have to take Grandpa to hospital.

That never happened but we did lose Grandpa. He just went to sleep one night and didn't wake up.

Caterina was obviously the one who discovered him and she has been distraught ever since.

But then, we have all been really upset and just missing Grandpa.

Even when he wasn't feeling that well, we always used to go outside when I got off school to toss the football around. I guess that probably seems like a silly thing to miss, to some people, but it's not to me.

Before he died, Grandpa mentioned that he'd really like to see me go to college. I really want to make that happen for him but I'm not very confident. My grades are just barely average and I'm not in any danger of earning any scholarships any time soon.

My sisters are both away at college right now but they came home for the funeral.

Camilla and Lila came back to our house for dinner afterwards and it was so good to see them both, especially Lila. I've always felt closer to her than to Camilla.

We even tossed a football around before dinner, like we used to when we were kids.

Dinner itself was sort of depressing. Very quiet as well, which doesn't happen often in our house.

Nobody said much at all, except for Dad and Lila, occasionally.

I've had the biggest crush on Sebastian Gentry for at least a year now and have been begging Veronica to maybe set up a double date or something. She's dating his brother Oliver and it would be so easy for her to do it but so far, she keeps "forgetting".

So of course, she had to pick the worst possible time to finally set something up!

Grandpa just died; I don't really feel like going out and trying to impress a boy right now.

Veronica was really annoyed by that. "Do you know how much effort I went to to organise this?"

I don't know how hard it could have been. All she had to do was invite Oliver and Sebastian out bowling or something.

But Veronica doesn't take no for an answer, so over the next couple of days, she wore me down and I agreed to ask Mum and Dad.

I thought maybe Mum would be angry at me for even asking so soon after Grandpa died but she was okay with it. I always knew Dad would be a hard sell though.

He's always been protective of us but he's been worse since Camilla got pregnant.

The only reason I was allowed to go was because it was a group situation and because Uncle Caleb was going to pick us up and take us back home.

When we sat down to eat at the bowling alley, stupid Oliver took the seat next to Sebastian, which kind of pissed me off.

But we got to talk plenty after dinner, so that kind of made up for it. Sebastian's a musician. His parents just bought him a synthesiser for his 16th birthday but he's already saving up for a guitar.

We did actually bowl, as well and I almost embarrassed myself by falling over.

But then I redeemed myself by getting a strike. I was hoping Sebastian saw and he did! He even clapped for me!

Once we finished bowling, Oliver and Veronica basically started ignoring me and Sebastian.

I didn't really feel like watching them make out all night, so I took advantage of having Sebastian to myself instead.

I really like Sebastian - he's very charming.

Dad says I should watch out for the charming ones but I think Sebastian is really sweet.

He even kissed me goodnight, luckily before Uncle Caleb came to pick us up! He would have told Dad.

And Sebastian wants to go out on a date with just me, without Veronica and Oliver tagging along. I'm so excited - that will be my first real date!

While we were waiting outside for Uncle Caleb, I filled Veronica in on all the details. She doesn't find any of it nearly as exciting as I do but she's my best friend, so I still wanted to tell her.

I had to admit that I was glad I gave in and came. In the back of my mind though, I felt almost guilty for being so happy. I hate to admit it but I'd almost forgotten about Grandpa.

The next morning at breakfast, Caterina announced that she was making plans to move in with her daughter.

Dad was surprised and thought maybe Caterina was feeling unwelcome here, now that Grandpa was gone. She insisted it wasn't that though; she just wanted to spend some more time with Olivia and her family.


Olivia had visited the day before with Ramona and Jacinta and asked Caterina what she thought about the idea and Caterina decided she liked it.


I guess it makes sense that she'd want to get to know Ramona and Jacinta, the same way she got to know Josh and Jessica when she lived with her son.

I don't really remember either of my grandmothers, so Caterina has been the closest thing I've had to a grandma. We get along so well and I almost forget we're not related.

She's not moving that far away and she says we can still visit and call each other but it's not going to be the same.

It feels like everyone is leaving. Camilla and Lila are away, Grandpa's gone and now Caterina. I'm going to miss having her around here.

**********
Julian Sitko, 1950-2032

Julian Sitko, Sullivan business tycoon and owner of The Greasy Spoon, died in his sleep early on Thursday morning. He was 82 years old.

Julian Sitko moved to Sullivan in 1978 and fell in love with his future wife, Collette.

Just one year later, he married Collette in a ceremony in their backyard.

Marrying Collette also made Julian a stepfather to Collette's son, Owen.

A few years later, Collette gave birth to Julian's first and only biological child, Kirstin.

When Julian wasn't spending time with his family, he was busy running The Greasy Spoon, one of Exeter's most popular diners.

Two years after the death of his wife Collette in 2023, Julian began dating Caterina, who was also widowed.

After dating for two years, Julian and Caterina married at Sullivan Town Hall.

At the time of his death, Julian was living with his daughter Kirstin and her family in Sullivan.

Julian leaves behind wife Caterina (77), daughter Kirstin (48), stepson Owen (54) and granddaughters Camilla and Lila (both 19) and Adelaide (14).

Extras:

Pretty sure Caterina was a little more than Julian's friend, SimCity Insurance Company! They've given her the same payout spouses always get but she's still listed as a friend. I think that probably has something to do with the fact that Julian and Caterina's marriage was a bit buggy. I think he still considered himself married to Collette and Fix Dead Romances (batbox option) didn't work on him. So, um...a bit of weirdness there!

On Twitter last night, I posted that I'd been completely uninspired with my town hall (one of Kirstin's election promises was to refurbish it) but was finally making some headway. I have a little sneak preview for you.

These offices are the ones I imagine the lower level workers are in - the campaign workers, the interns, etc. There's two desks in each room, as I don't imagine they'd have their own offices). The higher level workers will have much larger offices upstairs.

Notes:

• Title is from God Help The Girl by God Help The Girl.
• So Julian is gone but it was unfortunately just his time to go. So far, I believe he's my longest living Sim (though I have Sims around now who will live much longer), so at least he had a good run, unlike poor Henry!
• I had him die at home mainly because every time I clicked on Julian while he was selected, he'd "jump", so I knew I wasn't going to be able to get a lot of posing done with him.
• The Greasy Spoon, if you're wondering, is now owned by Kirstin but that's temporary. It will eventually be transferred to Camilla.
• I somehow suspect David will not be very fond of Sebastian. He's a Romance Sim and his grades are even worse than Adelaide's. She gets low Bs, he gets low Cs or high Ds. I've decided that David is letting them date very reluctantly. ;)
• Next time we see Olivia, Caterina will be living with her. It just seemed to make more sense to have her live with them. She can take the spare bedroom and Ramona and Jacinta can be roomies.