The Caregiver’s Tales
Tiny essays on life, nature, grief and other things that catch my fancy in the Texas Hill Country. Here’s how it all got started.
Tags
- .River 1
- 290 1
- A Resolution 1
- AAA 3
- AC Unit 1
- ALS 1
- ASCII 1
- Abundance 2
- Abyss 1
- Acceleration 1
- Acceptance 2
- Accomodation 1
- Accomplishments 1
- Aches 1
- Acid 1
- Action 1
- Activity 1
- Adjusting 1
- Adoption 2
- Adrift 1
- Advice 1
- Again 1
- Agarita 1
- Age 7
- Ageless 1
- Ages 1
- Aging 6
- Air-tags 1
- Aircraft 1
- Alexa 1
- Aliens 2
- Alone 3
- Alvin 2
- Ambition 1
- Ancient Seas 1
- Anderson Fair 1
- Android 1
- Angels 5
- Anger 2
- Angles 1
- Animals 1
- Ankle 1
- Anniversary 3
- Anticipation 6
- Antiviral Meds 1
- Anxiety 2
- Aorta 2
- Aortic 1
- Apartments 1
- Applesauce 1
New Things
Here’s an odd thing I’ve noticed in my journey of recovery from the illness and the loss of my wife. Sports are once again interesting, particularly when there’s a story involved, a story such as the emergence of the Detroit Lions as a winning team, having won nothing for a long time.
Saying Goodbye
Another life is over. Another friend is gone. And now the ripples of grief are running through the fabric of the lives he touched.
Directionless
Durn. I went to bed last night without thinking of something to write about this morning. This means sitting down fresh and sorting through a large collection of random thoughts to see what might be worth a few words.
Odd Thoughts
I spent Memorial Day weekend on the banks of the Nueces River. It’s the river that runs through my life. It’s a beautiful river made even better for the memories generated along its banks.
Going
We’re here. Gruene. We want to be there. Red River New Mexico. We are gathered together in the name of music. Bags are packed. We’re ready to go. Nearly. Weather is the issue.
Character Building
We near the end of the ninth year for these little essays. It is a record setting year, and it’s not quite done.
Going Underground
I grow tired sometimes writing about grief. Partly, I suspect because I think, who wants to hear it all the time. But when you’re writing every day about what you see and what you feel, it’s hard to avoid.
Party Time
Started stringing Christmas lights yesterday. I put up the hard ones. The icicle lights that hang from the gutters. They require a ladder. Boo.
New Direction
Big doings in and around town. Over at the headquarters of the Pedernales Electric Co-operative crews are dressing the trees with lights. Really. They’ll finish in time to turn them on the day after Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, down the road toward Fredericksburg, they’re strangling traffic.
The Word
I thought, going into 2022, I was going to avoid writing this sort of thing, because I really wanted to lighten the mood this year. But talk about elephants and rooms.
My Little Friends
I have a monkey. Actually, it’s an orangutan. And it’s ceramic. And it’s old.
Starting Over
I’m pretty sure no one really understands how good I feel right now. My house is a holy mess, my wife died a year ago, but here I stand in all the debris feeling just as I did eleven years ago when we first moved in.
Two Women
Friends. Yesterday was seismic. As seven boxes of my wife’s clothes and shoes went out the door a new recliner crashed into the room. Continents drifted. Mountains rose. New oceans formed.
Moving Day
I did what I thought was going to be a hard job yesterday. I packed up my late wife’s clothing for the local Catholic charity in Fredericksburg. It was hard.
The Anniversary
I thought I’d have something to say on the first anniversary of my wife’s death. Turns out I’m struggling for words.
The Burden
Went with friends to visit my wife’s grave yesterday. We hung a little decorative pendant by the headstone. It was made by her Ya-Ya’s at their last gathering.
The Reservoir
They say you learn how to grieve as a child by watching those around you. I never thought much about it until now with the passing of my wife. Then I started taking an inventory.
On Course
Cue James Brown. I feel good. Two weeks into a six-week group grief counseling session, things are falling into place.
Dreamland
Dreamed I got laid off. Didn’t seem to bother me. Not sure what the job was or why I got let go. The dream came during a good night’s sleep. I guess it was just the brain’s way of cleaning things up.
A First Step
I’m going on a quest. I may actually already be on one. It may have started when my wife died, or even before that. It may not be important. But suddenly things feel purposeful.