Today I had a morning “reality check” that started with the search for a
wine glass....
Last evening we had our
annual “Golden Girls” Christmas dinner here at my house. The (now) three of us had a glass of wine before dinner. As a surprise, after dinner I had
planned a special recognition of this first Christmas get-together without our
good friend, Chris Butler.
As we talked over dinner we remembered last year’s get
together where the four of us ate and laughed and had a great time
together. Chris seemed to be emerging
from a long spell of illness. She had
put on some weight, looked better than she had in ages, and we all seemed to be
in a good place. We had no idea that she
would be gone in just four short months.
Last evenings dinner had a quiet to it that covered a deeper
sadness. After we finished, I announced
that we were heading out into the cold to send off a sky lantern to wish Chris
a Merry Christmas. We all bundled up
and, after carefully reading the directions, headed for the driveway. As is usually the case I assumed I had this
thing all figured out, and it caused not a little laughter as I tried to light
the lantern in the wind without igniting the whole thing. Finally the fuel pad grabbed the flame and the
lantern filled with hot air. After a few
seconds it gracefully lifted up into the black velvet night sky.
It really was a beautiful sight, a heart lifting moment as
we sent our Christmas wish skyward. I was
more than a little relieved when the lantern cleared the roof of the house as
the wind took the fiery lantern in a north easterly direction. (Note:
check wind direction or don’t try this at home.)
The glowing white orb rose soundlessly as we watched. Then, quite suddenly, it seemed to stand
still in the cold night air. I was
mentally going through reasons this might happen, like some cold air/hot air
ratio, when Becky announced, “Uh-oh! It’s
stuck in a tree”.
All sentimental thoughts ceased as we watched, horrified and
hoping the thing would quickly run out of fuel. (Note: the fuel lasts a loooong time) The skeletal fingers of that huge old tree
clutched that lantern like a catcher’s mitt at home plate. I held my breath and squinted in the
darkness, hoping not to see any signs of fire on the tree limb; after what
seemed like forever it went out.
Demonstrating that it was well worth the price, the thing is still up
there this morning to greet me as I took the dog out.
You might think this ruined the moment; in truth it couldn’t
have been more perfect. The three of us
went from solemn, to shocked, to laughter in the space of a minute. It took much longer for me to get the sound
of Chris’s laughter out of my head after we went back into the house. I ended the evening with the feeling that the
four of us had once again shared a good laugh…and if it’s possible for Chris to
have orchestrated it, she did.
That takes me back to this morning. After the gals went home last night I got
lazy and left the dishes; ‘tomorrow is another day’ type thinking. This morning I multi-tasked as I sipped a cup
of coffee, loaded the dishwasher and filled the sink with things that needed to
be done by hand. I started to wash the
wine glasses, and that’s when I noticed one was missing. Automatically on the hunt, I trailed my way
through a couple of rooms before I remembered there wouldn’t be a fourth wine
glass to find this morning.
The Golden Girls now number three, but there will always be
four of us in our hearts.
Life is Good
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