Imagine the Possibilities

Last week I spent some time with my sisters-in-law cleaning out my in-laws’ house. They both passed away last year and it has been a job that has loomed over us for some time.

What’s interesting about a job like that is not just deciding what to keep and what to discard, but also being stopped dead in your tracks with a memory, a story, and sometimes a regret. We would be going along in a great sort of rhythm, then a drawer full of pictures would stop us. Time to pause. Time to remember.

I didn’t grow up in this family, but I have been a part of it for more than forty years – a lifetime of stories and cherished memories and accumulated “stuff.” The stuff has been trashed or kept, sorted and boxed, donated or claimed. All of the memories have been stored in our hearts forever.

I pulled the pie tins out from the lower cupboard. Suddenly I was sitting at the table in the dining room on my husband’s birthday with the most glorious lemon merengue pie (probably two) ready to share. Mounds of fluffy, sweet whiteness atop a creamy custard of just-right tartness. My mother-in-law would ring the pies with the built-in crust loosener. That’s what made these pie tins so special, and I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere else. Definitely a keeper.

Next month, on Allan’s birthday, I will try to recreate that glorious lemon merengue pie as I do every year. I’ve gotten close, but it’s never quite the same. Perhaps this year will be different. Perhaps there’s magic in that pie tin.

I love the Memorial Day weekend. Besides being a time to honor all who have fought for our country, it is also the unofficial start to summer. I got married on a Memorial Day weekend, and my son was born three years and a few days later. So there is always much to celebrate here at this special time of year. This year was no different… sort of.

The Good – Allan and I traveled to Brooklyn to see my son and daughter-in-law and to spend time with our five month old grandson. We got him all to ourselves when the kids went out for some time alone. We loved every minute and hated to leave! We also celebrated our forty-first wedding anniversary by going to a movie. We had to pick a dark place for reasons you will learn later.

The Bad – I had some minor surgery just before the weekend to remove some basal cells from my forehead. Not a big deal, really, and everything is fine. One of the last things the doctor said to me was, “Now you may have a black eye from this…” which led to…

The Ugly – It started Friday night and progressed through Saturday. And yes, it’s a doozy. Lovely shades of purple and pink and red with a slight tinge of yellow surround my left eye. There is swelling underneath the eye where everything seems to be draining. Makeup helps some, but I wear dark glasses when I go out. Of course, I am convinced that everyone is staring at me. But they are probably just trying to figure out why someone is wearing dark glasses on an overcast day, let alone inside!

But despite all of that, it was a good start to summer. We celebrated with ice cream!

Airports are great places for people watching. Yesterday while waiting for my flight to Boston to board, I considered the other people in the waiting area – couples with young children, older couples, couples taking selfies, single travelers, businessmen. What are their stories, I wondered? Since it’s April and I said I would try writing a poem for my Tuesday slices, I jotted down some thoughts in the form of a question poem. It doesn’t rhyme, but I did try to pay some attention to rhythm.

Where are you going?

Where have you gone?

Will your travels be happy?

Will your trip leave you glum?

Have you left someone at home who will miss you immensely?

Are your loved ones all with you ‘cause you can’t bear to part?

Will you travel in comfort with a seat in first class?

Will your flight be an hour or last through the day?

What will you wonder as you roam through the sky?

What will you discover as you go and return?

Where are you going?

Where have you gone?

Love where you’re going, but love coming home.