Ordinary Days
There’s a nip in the air and frost on the ground. It’s early but the day has fairly started. The trash can is out, the cats are fed, and there’s a load of wash going. The surveyors came yesterday to start the replat of our lots. My youngest son and middle child would like to put his house on one. Sounds good. We’ll have a compound. Tedious business though. Lots of i’s to dot and t’s to cross. But we’ll get there.
Later today I’m off to Houston. Eventually, I’ll have to pack, which is my least favorite part of any trip. You need outfits. Coordinated things to wear. In my normal day-to-day life, I don’t think that way. Dressing every morning is a surprise. And sometimes the same outfit makes multiple appearances because who knows. Oh, well. I did get my Sam Houston shirt to wear when I support my granddaughter’s track career. It’s orange, which feels right for Creamsicles but less so for clothes. At least, it will be easy to spot when I look for it.
The sore spot in the weekend will be the memorial service for my brother-in-law. Two kids a wife and lots of grieving relatives. I imagine I’ll see people I haven’t seen in a while. I wish it could be under better circumstances but I think events like this are for the living anyway so maybe these are the circumstances and I just have to live with it. And yesterday I heard a friend lost his mother. It’s easy to think it’s a bad season, but I’m just at that age where when death comes knocking and he sees you in the crowd of mourners, he just nods and smiles.
John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver's Tale