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Bouquet and Bulldog Notwithstanding
Upon entering my car in our garage this morning, I saw a red envelope, perching in one of the cup-holders. The card inside featured a sweet, big bulldog and the printed inscription read, "I'm worth my weight in love."
On the way home, I stopped at the little flower shop near our home, which was still open at 8:30 pm miraculously -- or not, since it's Valentine's Day -- and bought a bouquet of yellow tulips for Pat whose favorite color is yellow. They're waiting for her on the landing of our steps to the living room from the music room; she'll pass them as she comes into the house from the garage.
Saturday, we decided, would be our Valentine's Day, as we're going into the city for a play and then out to dinner at a French restaurant. Tonight, Pat went to see Kathleen Turner at the 92nd Street Y and I worked late.
At around 6:30 pm, just after my last conference call, Pat phoned me from the upper west side to tell me that there had been a bad shooting at one of her former employers. If Pat had still been working there, she'd have been among the leadership team, handling the crisis.
Appreciating the One I Love
I looked on CNN.com as she was talking to me and it was the top story. I celebrated Pat's earning of her Curriculum and Supervision doctorate with her mom and her on that campus, went to a number of fun tailgate parties and basketball games, and to a picnic with the LGBT faculty and staff networking group. I know the landmarks they're referring to. Thank God, today, Pat was retired, rather than still employed there...because what if she had been injured or endangered in any way!
She's going to feel bad about this forever, I know. I also know that she'd have been amazing in this situation, as she's really smart and sensible about crises. Dear God, please get her home safely from her evening of Kathleen Turner. Seriously.
2 comments:
Hi Sarah,
I'm glad Pat didn't need to handle this crisis. She would have been great, but she served her time there in the past and now someone else was carrying the load. She did plenty of load-carrying in the past, even managing to deal with a gun-toter in her day, if I remember correctly from one of her anecdotes.
This whole issue of mental illness and people's snapping, like the butcher knife therapist-murderer the other day, is pretty damn scary. As is the idea of sudden, random, purposeless death, like your former cable colleague's. I just learned of a colleague's co-worker, who lost his son two days ago. He had a massive heart attack while preparing for a marathon. Left behind a wife and two children under 5.
So, life is short, sometimes shorter than we anticipate. I am happy that you and Pat have one another to sweeten the time.
Love,
Kathy
Life and death are alternately random and intentional, and it's unpredictable which will be which.
Pat and I saw the Dutch film, "Black Book," last night, which featured a lot of intentional death, and intentional life, too.
Meanwhile, I'm reminded to relish every moment of life as an ultimate blessing, whether as a visible one or as one in disguise.
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