Cocktails with Maddie at Clyde Common
Last week, Todd and I looked at each other in surprise when we came to the same realization. We could go to a movie. We could go out for a cocktail. We could watch recorded TV shows. We could eat baked potatoes for dinner, leftovers, or skip dinner altogether and snack on pita chips and hummus with a great bottle of wine.
I’ve been out of town a total of almost three weeks in the 5 1/2 weeks since Dad died on Jan. 12. I will get home today and leave tomorrow for a friend’s 50th birthday bacchanalian.
With Maddie starting a new permanent job next week (with benefits!), I realized we could do something fun. So we went to Portland where I showed her the wonders of Powell’s Books, the Living Room Theater (where we saw Oscar-nominated short animated films), and restaurants like Andina and Clyde Common.
I know I’m free in a way I haven’t been in seven years, but I can’t quite wrap my brain around it yet. I keep waiting for the electronic collar to zap me when I’ve come to the end of my tether. Or worse, the phone to ring with Dad on the other end, saying, “Bets, I need help. Where are you?”
It’s going to take a while to get used to my new reality. Todd, too. He isn’t getting much in the way of meals these days (I can hear my mother’s voice chastising me for that). But maybe I’ll surprise him and even shave my legs for a change. What a concept.
The Henry Chronicles 