I was chatting with a fella the other night, asking him about how he met his girlfriend (I’m always fascinated by the myriad of ways people come together and fall in love) and he followed up by asking me:
What about you, you’re unpartnered right now?
Unpartnered… I’d never heard the term before and found it odd. My state of being as a state of not-being something else. Continue reading
“Dad! What are you doing on the roof? Get down from there!”
Jesus. I hold the ladder steady as he works his way down. As soon as I can reach him I hold him steady too.
84 years old.
“What were you thinking? You know your balance is no good anymore, you could have broken your neck.”
“I’m feeling pretty steady today, just wanted to do a bit of work on that flashing. It had come loose in that wind last night.”
“Well, you call me for that, or Simon, he’s got some time free from classes this summer. You know those dizzy spells can hit you all the sudden. It’s just not safe for you to be doing that sort of thing anymore.”
He wipes the tip of the caulking gun with a rag, walks into the garage to put it away with the rest of the tools. Carrying the ladder I call after him: “Dad, you’ll call when you need help?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll call.”
There’s something in the deflated way he says it, his shoulders sagging forward. He seems to have shrunk just a little.
I’ve made my point, won that little battle. Just trying to keep him safe, damn it. But Dad, well Dad, I think he just lost something.
This one’s for you mama….
My mom spent her working years as a nurse. A member of that noble-hearted profession of caregivers, nurturers, comforters of the ailing. My mother also has a rather warped sense of humour. To this day, if you ask her how my dad broke his toe (something that happened well over 30 years ago now), you’ll get such a fit of tear streaming breathless giggles you won’t ever really get the story, Continue reading
Sitting at the supper table with my brother
Laughing ’til we can’t breathe
Thirty years
Thousands of miles
Some things never change
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