(and stoutly refuses to believe that he is dead). So after 5 or 6 hours of drooling and wagging for her LITB boys, she went all sleepy-dog. Actually, I think she was more in a stupor...you can see her little pink tongue sticking out a bit and her eyes are glazed over...Well, Hugh has that effect on her. She is also not tempted by Bat, so obviously was not really herself...I took advantage of this quiet time to pay a Christmas visit to my mother in law. If my husband is dead, is she still my mother in law? Seems like there should be a special title for that...Anyway, we had a nice short visit. Perfect for Christmas.
Later that afternoon, J was having a little get together for her in laws and graciously invited me to join in, as long as I promised to bring some shrimp and whatever else I wanted to whip up. Well, who could refuse?? So I peeled shrimp until my fingers bled a little and fixed some other Yuletide treats and set out. It was kinda weird not picking Mom up...
When I got to J's. I could tell something was strange.....Why were the over-fridge cabinet and the refrigerator door open when company was there? (And would you look at that mess up there) What were they looking at? Where could I put my jello salad so it wouldn't be forgotten when it was time to eat? (I don't know...where could we put it J? Somewhere where we'd be sure to remember it...like out in the GARAGE maybe??) Then, I heard it...beep...So I looked at J like WTF? And she said, "Did you hear that?" Well, yeah I heard it. Why do you think I'm looking at you like WTF?? She said they'd been hearing it for about an hour. beep And it was driving them crazy. They couldn't figure out where it was coming from. If you stood in the kitchen, it sounded like it was coming from inside the wall...if you stood in the living room, it sounded beep like it was coming from the dining room. If you stood upstairs or in the basement or in the attic, you couldn't hear it at all. Huh. beep So, I let them let them look for the beep and just kept on sticking picks through those 10 million shrimp. beep
Well, after awhile, it began to get on my beep nerves. Plus, G kept wandering through the house with the ladder and I was afraid he'd upset the Christmas tree. And J kept opening cabinets and asking if it sounded any different beep when this one was open. Or how about when the dishwasher was open...was beep it any louder? I remarked that perhaps it was Mom trying to get our attention. J smirked and G looked at me like WTF...so I didn't pursue it. But it beep might have been. How do we know she doesn't miss us just as much as we miss her? Anyway, once the house filled up and J turned up Johnny Mathis on the stereo, we beep didn't notice the beep so much.
On Christmas, which was the only time J let us come over, Mom always sat in the same spot at the breakfast bar in the kitchen. This year, J put a picture of her there on the counter in her spot, and G put an upside down martini glass next to it. It was kinda sweet and kinda funny and it made me feel kinda nostalgic...
We miss you, Mom, and not just at Christmas.
--Ina
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