Our nomadic summer continues. Wow. It’s forced me to figure out how to put video on my ipod (single mom’s best friend on the road, I suspect).
We’re having a few friends over for a bonfire tonight and tomorrow it will be home to MN. Though it has finally occurred to me that after 11 years in Alabama, that it too, is really home (as much as I have resisted that idea).
The other day I spoke with a friend in MN whom I hadn’t spoken with in a couple of years. I wasn’t even sure if she knew what had happened to Mike. In fact, I was dreading telling her. She was one of our many dear friends from our wild days of bartending at Sweeney’s Saloon in St. Paul and these folks were the ones who saw our relationship evolve from platonic into coupledom. In fact, I think almost the whole restaurant staff knew that Mike and I would be a couple before we ever dared admit that we were highly attracted to each other.
Anyway, she had heard rumors of, but had not confirmed Mike’s death. So she called me (coincidentally) in between my massage therapy and therapist appointment and I was crying. It’s weird how some things hit you harder than you’d think they would. But thinking about Carolee and talking to her brought up all the memories of so long ago (nearly 20 years!!!!) and I can’t help picturing people from the Sweeney’s clan’s reaction and it kind of freaks me out. They’re kind of like our long lost family.
This will be an interesting “this is your life” kind of trip. Lots of reunions. The first time home w/o my travel partner. Wow.