As If Last Year Had Never Happened...

Lots of people ask me if my life feels much emptier since I took my father to my mother in Arizona.  Honestly, although it was just a few weeks ago, it seems a lifetime ago, almost like the year with my father living with us had never happened.

The most "permanent" reminder is "his" room, which had been the bedroom of two of my daughters.  Last October when I was in New York getting him, one of my sons and my son-in-law totally redid the room, painting it, changing furniture etc.  It's not the room it was.  Otherwise it would be hard to remember that he had ever lived here.  My neighbors miss him.  He was a popular addition to the neighborhood.

I hadn't lived with my parents for decades.  I'm married forty years.  As an adult I had rarely seen him.  It was strange having him living with us and so dependent on me.

Now I'm back where I was a year ago.  I must find a part-time job.  I plan on helping with the grandkids once or twice a week.  And I'd like to make some sort of business out of my photography, writing and diet coaching.  There aren't enough English tutoring opportunities here in Shiloh, but I accept whatever students apply.  I don't belong in a classroom; it's too stressful.  And I plan on registering for some Matan classes.  Yes, this does sound like where I was last year this time...