Romance

It seems that I have become a tad maudlin of late. Maybe it's being alone 90% of the time or maybe it's my getting older. Maybe it's being in the house trying to stay healthy. It's like I'm hypersensitive with my emotions reaching out to bite me when I least expect it. Here are three things that have brought smiles to me followed by tears. I can't quite explain. The tears don't quite seem like "happy" tears. I seem to be affected by "Romance." How unusual! Most people perceive me as being cold, but I've been feeling like the Grinch when he discovers his heart. 

There's an old British comedy show, "As Time Goes By," which stars Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer.  They fell in love when they were very young, but lost touch when he went off to war. They both married other people, but met again many years later discovering that they still loved each other. The show is so (dare I say it?) sweet. It's being re-broadcast on one of my PBS stations and I adore it. I wonder if anyone has romance in their lives like these two older people. Watching makes me feel a little envious. 

There is even a comic strip that makes me wondrous and hopeful for we humans. On "9 Chickweed Lane," there are a lot  sexual situations, but all of the characters truly are madly in love. Some mornings it just makes my day to think there may be people who are truly and earnestly in love like these cartoon characters. Romance--there's not enough in this world. 

This afternoon I was sitting on the deck when I heard voices. It was a very young dad with his two children taking a walk The dad looked so young--early 20's? The little boy looked about 3 and the little girl seemed to be about 2. They were so cute. The little boy wanted Dad to race with him, but Dad explained that he couldn't race because he had to stay with the little girl while she stopped to pick dandelions and inspect every tiny thing she saw in the street. "Oh, c'mon, Dad! Let's race!" The young dad scooped up the little girl and ran down the street in a foot race that he lost to his son but it made both children laugh. It made me tear up again. It was Sweet!

I don't know what to make of these mini emotional episodes. It seems a little foreign to me. I'm glad  no

one is around to see it happen. 

 

A Little Humor

I sent the following text to my sons this morning: OMG! I can't get away from it. I was playing a game this morning and found the word corona.

My older son replied: I know. Every time I open the frig I find corona.

This struck me as the funniest thing I've heard in over a year.

Thank you, James Taylor

Since Mr. Fixit was diagnosed with cancer at the end of 2013, I have done little except concentrate on his comfort and well-being. Until the last few months of his life, he was mobile and had very little discomfort. Most the discomfort came not from his cancer but from the treatment. Even the treatment didn't slow his down much. He had very few side effects. He was upset that he had to have so much help with things around the house. It galled him to think that our sons and grandchildren had to help with the repairs and yard work. He was the one who was always there for anyone who needed a room painted or had a car that needed repair.

During those years, I spent most of my time with him watching his beloved westerns, going to Wal-Mart, and taking the long way home. I cooked his meals, washed his clothes, and anything else he needed or wanted. My housework suffered greatly. (I've always hated housework so I wasn't overly concerned. Some might say that I enjoyed having an excuse for putting the dusting and vacuuming off for "just one more day.")

The weather has finally cooled a bit. For the first time in a year, even in winter, the ceiling fan in my room was off. As I lay in bed reading, I noticed it had a decidedly furry look. It was covered in dust. No, not just dust, but DUST! I was totally mortified. What if anyone saw it? This morning the first item on the agenda was cleaning the fans. An old song ran through my mind, "Winter, spring, summer or fall All you have to do is call . . . You've got a fan. And now they are clean, and the silly "you've got a fan" thought made me smile.

Br-r-r-r

Here in Upstate South Carolina, summer usually arrives the middle of April. The only good thing about that is April is the one month when the electric bill is at its lowest. The first of April we may need the heat, but by the end of the month, the AC runs every day. There is usually a week of spring with no AC, neither heating nor cooling.

Here we are, June 14, and I had to wear a hoodie during my walk this morning. When I left the house at 7 am, I was wearing a very light shirt jacket over a short sleeve knit top. After the first circuit around the neighborhood I came in for the hoodie. My hands were so cold that I almost grabbed some mittens. I noticed the outdoor temperature was 56 degrees. After walking my 2.5 miles, I came back home; the temperature was up to 58 degrees. I have lived here for more than 35 years. I don't think I've ever experienced 50 degree weather in June.

For those who deny climate change, you may want to rethink your position. Weird weather stuff just keeps happening.

Note: I saw on the news that we experienced an earthquake last week. I didn't feel anything. We aren't that far from the epicenter in Georgia. It would have been interesting to experience a little tremor. I hope I'm not tempting fate with that remark.

Kindness

The state of the world has caused me to become cynical. People are so mean to each other. There is so little sympathy and empathy for those who have very little. It doesn't seem to matter who is hurt. I watch television and read the newspapers and see our nation's leaders seem to have fallen into an abyss of immorality. Corruption, the thirst for power, and hatred are now the norm for a lot of them and some of our population are right behind them urging them on.

Two things have happened lately that have surprised me and restored my faith in people. One thing came as a complete surprise. I can't tell you how much I appreciated the gesture. The second thing was a very small thing, but it touched my heart.

Before the service for Mr. Fixit, I asked the funeral director if we could take a few minutes to settle the financial details. I already had the check written with only the amount to be filled in. He said, "No, that's not necessary." I replied that I thought it would be easier for me to get that detail out of the way. He said, "You don't understand. There is no money due." I was astounded. I couldn't believe it. I asked how that happened. He explained that a group of retired military men saw that Mr. Fixit was a member of the 101st Airborne in his obituary. They paid the entire cost of the funeral. I asked what group it was so that I could make a donation. He said the men were anonymous and that he didn't think they were from any one organization. He said that occasionally they pay the expenses of ex-service men. Ours sons and I were so grateful.

I have begun walking every day again. Every morning I leave the house and walk around our circle. I walk the outer perimeter of the street to add a a little distance to each lap. There is a wooded area along a short section with trees and bushes overhanging the street. One tree hangs a little lower than the others so I have to duck a little to get by. Yesterday morning as I reached that tree I noticed that I didn't have to duck. Someone had cut the low-hanging branch and left it on the street. No other branches had been cut. There are not that many people out at 7 am. The only person I see that early is another woman walking her dogs. I don't think she's ever noticed that I duck under the branch. I don't know who trimmed the little branch. It could have been someone else who walks and ducks under it, too, and decided to trim for him/herself. I like to think they did it for me. It was a very nice thing to do. It just made my day.

These two kindnesses have proved to me that there is good in this world.

Loss

Death has some surprising consequences for me. I am no stranger to death. I am the last of my immediate family. My dad died when he was 42; I was 18. We were very close. I still feel the loss. My mom died when she was 57; I was 33, married with two children,and lived 1000 miles away from her. We loved each other, but we were not close. I have regret that I didn't make a bigger effort to develop a closer relationship with her. I'm not sure it would have changed anything; my mother lived in her own little world. My older brother was 59 when he died and my younger brother was 49. I was very close to the young brother, and I still mourn him.

Since Mr. Fixit's death Easter morning, I can't quite get it together. My emotional range goes from grief, to relief, to anger, and to mystification. I have lost my best friend, my companion, my raison d'etre for 54 years. The last few days have been difficult.

I have been trying to bring order to the chaos of Mr. Fixit's room. I had no idea what I was facing. We had separate rooms for practical reasons. His room became his own personal space. I only went in during the last few years to put away his laundry. I suggested when I knew it was time to wash the sheets. I vacuumed just in the entrance of the room. To make matters worse, when he came home from the hospital and began hospice care, I wanted him to be in the heart of the house. I asked our sons to make space in the living room for his bed. He could be a part of all the every day comings and goings. They had to move several pieces of furniture from the living room. The only place to put them was Mr. Fixit's room. Afterward, it was impossible to navigate from the entrance to the room to the other side without climbing over, or re-arranging, the extra furniture.

This week my mission was to clear the room. Here it is Friday, and it still isn't done.

As I may have mentioned before, Mr. Fixit was a hoarder of sorts. It just killed him to throw things away. I found things that touched my heart; I found things that broke my heart. I found things that made me angry. (How many cameras and camera cases does a man need? How many utility knives does a man need? How many calendars does a man need? How many Cross pens does a man need?) I have shredded several garbage bags of paper. For some reason that I cannot fathom, he collected Social Security yearly benefit books as well as the half inch thick books furnished yearly by our insurance company. The earliest one I found was 2013. I found stacks of Christmas cards most of which I never saw. They were many, many cards from the children, baseball stuff, programs from the school functions that we attended. Oh yes, I also have cards from the grandchildren and programs from their school functions. I found day planners for his work dating back to the year 2000. (He retired in 2006.) I found two never-used wallets and a brand new watch in its original box. I found two wooden perfectly round unpainted balls about two inches in diameter that are the source of my mystification' What could he have been planning that required two wooden balls? The man's mind worked in wondrous ways.

While doing this task, I have cried from sorrow, laughed at his idiosyncrasies, and became angry at his waste of money spent of goofy stuff. Dammit! I miss him.

MR. FIXIT

October 1937 to April 2019