I am going to (*******) with my new (****) when all the (******)have fallen

Can you guess the answer to yesterday’s guessing game from the blog title?

I hope so.

But we’ll let you think for a few more minutes before revealing the answer. 

(Which really probably isn’t that interesting to anyone else, but it sure made a fun blog game, didn’t it?  OK, maybe not for you.  But it did for the writer!  Who didn’t have anything else to say yesterday.)

I just got home from work.  Very productive day.  Did a lot of reports.  OK, didn’t finish a lot of reports, but got them nicely started so that Monday should see happy results.

It’s also a sunny warm day (in the 50’s…when did the 50’s become warm??  Such a change in perspective as the seasons pass!)

A walk outside should be in order soon, don’t you agree?

I experienced a melancholy morning.  I was digging in an old unused email address.  Discovered about eight drafts of writing from a couple of years ago.  My eyes magnetized toward one about a woman, Maria, who had just been diagnosed with cancer. 

Dying

Who wrote this?  I wondered, not remembering.

Then it all hit with a deep sadness.

Ahhh, I wrote it.  It wasn’t about a woman named Maria–I had just used that name on a whim.  It was about my friend and co-worker, Mary, who had just received a cancer diagnosis.  She died less than four months later.

Tears flowed this morning.  I hadn’t thought about Mary for a while, but this piece of writing re-triggered the grief. 

I changed the name back to “Mary”, made a few changes, and posted it in my writing blog.  If you want to read, please visit Simply Here and read In memory of Mary who died…

Retreat

OK, let’s dry our tears.

Let’s go back to the parts of life that make us laugh and give us pleasure. Let’s go back to the part where life is fun and those we love don’t die.

The answer to yesterday’s guessing game is:  yes, Kathy is going to Fort Myers Beach, Florida, for her mother’s birthday next month.  She is not in Florida yet all you wily guessers!  She wishes she was in Florida, but then she would miss the last of the falling leaves.

She is bringing her new camera lens (that’s the four letter answer) to Florida, along with the new Canon Rebel.  She finally bought the news lens yesterday.  (The new camera, if some of you recall, came without a lens.  It was a used camera.  Gently used.  Used for less than a month.)  She hates to shop.  Her husband MADE her go over to the computer and order the lens.  Now she is excited!  She realizes she has put off photographing with the new camera too much until the new lens comes.  It is her Christmas present, her birthday present, and next year’s Christmas present, as well.

She is leaving for Florida with her new lens when the leaves have all fallen from the trees.  The trees are mostly bare now.  It’s a different world from a couple of weeks ago.  The branches click together moaning, “It’s almost Halloween, it’s almost Halloween…”

Mary, I wish you were here for Halloween.  We all really miss you.