Holi-Daze

Yea, I know how cliched that is.

Brick and I decided to start a new tradition since Zack and Zelda are both grown and gone now. This is our first Christmas without kids in a quarter of a century. I figured I'd spend less time missing them if we did something completely different. We packed up the dog and took off for Big Mama's.

Fifteen hundred miles, a couple of breakdowns (one for the car and one for me), and a bunch of rushing around later, I'm still thinking of Zelda and the traditions we had established after Zach left home and what we were doing this time last year and how much I miss her.

It doesn't help that every friend I have seems to be experiencing a tragedy where they're losing loved ones. Most of them have been out of the blue, unexpected, lessons in the fragility of life, the shortness of time, and how we don't always have next year,next month, tomorrow. All too often time just runs out long before we're ready for it to.

Even those of us who are losing people who have lived long lives, there's not enough time. Big Mama's been around 80 years and I can see her getting more fragile, not being the same person she's always been, and I want her back the way she was. If I feel this way as a Daughter-in-Law, I can't imagine how Brick is feeling.

And speaking of next year, next week, tomorrow; I miss Merv.