My sister, Carol. and my brother-in-law, Mike, Mike is holding their dog, Ellie.
Me and my sister.
We enjoyed a visit from my sister this last weekend. It was the first time she and Mike had come to a home I lived in since the early nineties.
I would love to tell you that we went out and did a lot of active and touristy things. We did not. But I feel like what we did was even better. We talked and talked and talked. We ate chicken and pork chops that we grilled at home. We walked the dogs together in our neighborhood. Benjamin showed him his amazing Rube Goldberg device he is building in his study.
And it was all good.
We did get out to tour some of the houses we had lived in before, and showed them where Alison worked, and where I worked. We showed them the sanctuary of our church, and the stage at the Ritz where I had been involved in so many plays over the years. Carol has not seen me in a play since high school. I thought about getting onstage and performing a medley of my greatest bits, but alas, my memory is not that good.
On Saturday, they had their choice of many local restaurants, and they chose Hog 'n' Bones. They loved the ribs, but I think our style of serving BBQ was a little different for them. In Michigan, most often when you order BBQ, the meat comes already sauced, instead of adding it at the table. It was a surprise to me when I first saw it done that way. I had always though that BBQ meant the fact that the meat was cooked in BBQ sauce. Now I like it because it allows me to pick my favorite sauce to put on it - the sweetest one I can find.
We saw a movie from Amazon Prime Saturday night, The Captive with Ryan Reynolds. It was a good movie, but not a great movie. What was special was being able to see it with Carol and Mike.
They left Sunday morning to go stay in Florida for awhile. I can't imagine why they would want to escape part of the Michigan winter, but there you go. I'm longing for a snowflake, and they're longing for sunshine.
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After they left on Sunday, I couldn't help but reflect on the fact that they were both able to be retired now (Carol is about fifteen months younger than me). I have cut back my work schedule a bit, but it's going to be sometime before I can comfortably leave accounting. It was tough showing up at my work mid-Saturday afternoon, and finding two work associates there. It gave me feelings of guilt and a little bit of hopelessness.
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We attended a funeral Sunday afternoon. It was a family friend that Alison grew up with, Mr. Bill Long. He was a great man, with a marvelous sense of humor. It was held at the church Alison grew up in (and where we were married), Blackshear Presbyterian.
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I watched more of the Super Bowl than I intended. I didn't think Alison would want to see it, but we wound up watching more of it than I thought we would. There were a few good commercials (The Snicker's Brady commercial was a highlight for me), and the game fit in with one of the strangest seasons the NFL had had to date. I still enjoy watching football, but I am becoming more and more aware that these people are messing up their bodies and brains for our amusement.
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I made no progress on my writing projects. I am sitting with a completed novel, and I did nothing really to accelerate to some kind of publication. I try to stay optimistic, but I hesitate when I glare into the harsh reality that is is almost certainly not going to help me do what I want to do.
But somehow I have to fight the naysayers in my head and at least try.
At least try.
So much easier to say than do.
Until next time,
T. M . Strait
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