Regarding Yesterday and Today

I made $77.00 at the market yesterday, which isn't bad.  And, my friend Larry from Indianapolis and his friends came to see me at my booth.  That's always nice; they're so friendly and cheerful!

One person from that group bought a package of "Tending to the Garden" cards, and I felt a tiny prick of sadness as I explained that it was based upon fond memories of my mom gardening at our house.

A couple of hours later, Frank Sachse and his daughter Jess (his son was there, too, but I can't remember his name) came to see me.  I hadn't seen Frank in years ... not since before Rob died.

I thought Frank knew about Rob.  I'm very open about my grief on Facebook, and Jess knows me there. So when I said "did you know Rob died?" I was kind of shocked when he turned red and started to cry. But in another way I wasn't surprised because Frank and his brother Pitney used to run a bulletin board system 25 years ago where Rob and I used to chat and fell in love. The brothers knew us well and they felt like we were the Romeo and Juliet of the bulletin board.

Through the bulletin board Rob and I met so many friends and went out on so many outings. We went to dances and bars and picnics and baseball games.It was like having another family. 

One thing that keeps popping into my head today is when I went to the island with everyone a week after I had broken my nose on Father's Day everybody was so nice and told me I still looked beautiful. I can still remember my friend Kooka telling Rob that I was fantastic and he would be a fool if he ever let me go. I guess Rob agreed with her because he never did.

So, yeah, 25 years ago I broke my nose on Father's Day at another picnic. It was up at Participation House in Markham. Every year they had wheelchair races on grass but this year it was on asphalt and instead of being in my power wheelchair I was in my manual wheelchair. I kept pleading with Rob to push me in the race and he kept saying "no, no it's too risky because your front wheels keep wobbling whenever you go fast." But did I listen? No. I got my own way and paid the price by flying out of my wheelchair when the wheels locked at high speed. I landed right on my nose. I can still remember the pain!

Rob and I had only been dating for a few months and I'm sure he must have wondered who was this crazy broad, especially since I stayed to eat a hot dog before going to the hospital. Mom didn't seem to surprised by my actions, neither did Dad, for that matter, when we got home and told him about it.

This weekend has been full of memories. Rob, Mom and of course Dad- I love you and miss you! I toasted to Dad with scotch and water for Father's Day and then toasted to Rob and Mom too.