Happy Thursday folks!
I hope you're all somewhere safe and doing well.
I'm gonna try to make this fast because I'm supposed to be sleeping. Also because I need to get it out before anything else noteworthy occurs. 😁
So this happened:
My cousin truly looked like a princess in her dress. Her parents were so proud and happy. My aunt (grandmother of the princess) was proud and happy too.
We all were. 💓
- The time spent with my friend was fun, eye-opening, sad, nostalgic, cathartic, blissful.
We talked about a lot of things past and present. Things we needed to share with each other, reveal to each other. There was a lot of emotional rawness and intimacy. (No, not that kind.) There were tears, laughter, yelling. We looked at old photos I'd taken with me.
We had a cookout at his house on Memorial Day. Some of his family came over. It was good to see them. Sad too. 😶
I hope you're all somewhere safe and doing well.
I'm gonna try to make this fast because I'm supposed to be sleeping. Also because I need to get it out before anything else noteworthy occurs. 😁
So this happened:
- A family member saved herself and her neighbors from literally being blown to bits a week ago. She had been smelling "a slight natural gas smell" before she left for vacation. Returned home and the odor was stronger. 😮
My relative called the gas company around 11p.m. Gas company rep arrived around midnight and said yep, gas leaking. He proceeded to knock on the door of the neighbor whose unit the smell seemed to be coming from.
No answer. Fire department was called to gain entry. Fire department showed up, opened the door. There was a sleeping occupant who needed reviving. 😱 An ambulance was called. The fire department used equipment to clear the gas fumes from the apartment. The paramedics/EMTs had to remove the occupant from a back door of the unit, started life-saving measures in the grass, then took the occupant to the hospital.
The next day my relative learned that a faulty gas stove was the culprit and she was thanked for saving not only lives but property as well. Several people in the building smoke and sometimes folks use grills on their patios and thankfully an awful situation was averted.
The mystery: did anyone else smell the gas in all that time? If yes, did they not understand the seriousness of the situation? 😕
- A guy who used to be my neighbor was arrested recently for sexually assaulting several women during massages when he was employed with two local (reputable) massage places.
But he won't be tried for the accusations. He had to be released because of a technicality. 😑 I can't prove he did anything he's accused of. Indeed, my own interactions with him were all fine. However, before he moved, I began reading The Sociopath Next Door. A few chapters in and I realized that something almost undetectable in homeboy's personality did raise my hackles a few times. 😬
🌸 🌸 🌸
Back to Memorial Day weekend: it was fabuloso!
- I had a great time with my dad's family at the quinceañera. We ate, danced, laughed, took photos, tried to crash the wedding next door, and allowed some wedding guests to peek in on our party too.
My cousin truly looked like a princess in her dress. Her parents were so proud and happy. My aunt (grandmother of the princess) was proud and happy too.
We all were. 💓
- The time spent with my friend was fun, eye-opening, sad, nostalgic, cathartic, blissful.
We talked about a lot of things past and present. Things we needed to share with each other, reveal to each other. There was a lot of emotional rawness and intimacy. (No, not that kind.) There were tears, laughter, yelling. We looked at old photos I'd taken with me.
We had a cookout at his house on Memorial Day. Some of his family came over. It was good to see them. Sad too. 😶
Really just a good reunion.
(Side note: There was a summer storm one night and I had another "energy" episode similar to the one in post 535. I've also had a few episodes at home since that post, always during weather events. The "why" continues to elude me. 😐)
Our visit was a much-needed chapter in our ongoing dialogue and I'm thankful we were able to get to it.
My friend is on vacation now, with one of his homies. We talked about him swinging by to visit me on his way home but he called the other day to say it wasn't likely to work with his probable schedule.
Que sera, sera...
When we next have time, it will be good to see him again. I love him as much as our connection allows and he knows he's one of the few people who is welcome to knock on my door without invitation or explanation, knowing he'll be ushered in with joy.
Until we meet again, the beat goes on.
There has been more conversing with the Astronaut lately. (See posts 804, 811, 855, and 876.)
He's scheduled to go home for the 4th of July, for a family reunion. He said he wants me to join him, which I just might do.
I haven't seen his people (who are my people too, sort of; more on that later) in almost 35 years. 📅📅
The Astronaut and I met the summer I was 17/18. He lived several hours and several hundred miles away but his brother was married to the sister of a guy my cousin was dating and the Astronaut came with them for a visit to my hometown.
He and I were instantly attracted to each other. We were inseparable the whole time he was in town and thought ourselves in love by the time he was heading back home. (I don't recall how long the visit was. Maybe a few week, maybe a couple of weeks.)
We made plans for me to visit him.
In the interim, there were lots of phone calls and sometimes letters. ☎ 🖊📃 💌📬 ☎
By the time I visited, we were talking marriage. 💍 💒
I loved everything about him, I thought.
But did we even have anything in common? Not much, it seemed.
He was a country boy, muscular and virile, with an accent that tickled my ears. His parents were still together living in the family home, his momma was a good cook, and he had lots of siblings, things that made me feel secure with him. And jealous of him.
I was a city girl, raised by a single mother and her family (mostly women). Cute and bookish but urban and sparkly enough to catch his eye. Dumb as a tick when it came to establishing and sustaining a healthy romantic relationship, certainly not able to create and foster a viable marriage.
The photos from my visit south, to see him and meet his family, are still in my collection. Decades later, the trip is still a fond memory for me.
My recollection is that we were gonna marry and move me south. We were researching jobs for me and planned to move into an apartment next to his brother and sister-in-law. But something happened and we broke up. Not during my visit but some time after.
Maybe the tedium of being in a long distance relationship with a man I didn't really know became overwhelming. Or boring. Or something else.
I do remember being married to my first husband and having sporadic contact with the Astronaut, Nothing untoward, just a few phone calls and a few letters. I recall telling him how I'd had a dream about his mom and him telling me she'd died the week of my dream...
At some point we lost touch.
Fast forward to meeting, dating, and marrying Mr. Bliss and Bam!
Big planet with billions of people and wouldn't ya know it, the Astronaut and I are now related by marriage. 😵😂
When I reminded him that tongues would be wagging if we attend the family reunion together, his response: So? I knew you first.
Alrighty then. (See definition number 4.)
In other news, I have a date Friday. Stay tuned for more details. 😄
Sweet dreams y'all.
p.s I just remembered that I must have visited the Astronaut at least twice, back in the day. The photos I mentioned are from a summer visit.
But there was also a visit when we went to the county fair, an autumn event. I remember because he took a photo of me lounging in a wooden glider-type swing but it was suspended by rope from a huge tree.
I was wearing a cream colored v-neck sweater and a pair of baggy floral pants in rust and navy blue, a favorite outfit that season.
That photo might be floating around in the archives. I'll have to search for it.
(Side note: There was a summer storm one night and I had another "energy" episode similar to the one in post 535. I've also had a few episodes at home since that post, always during weather events. The "why" continues to elude me. 😐)
Our visit was a much-needed chapter in our ongoing dialogue and I'm thankful we were able to get to it.
My friend is on vacation now, with one of his homies. We talked about him swinging by to visit me on his way home but he called the other day to say it wasn't likely to work with his probable schedule.
Que sera, sera...
When we next have time, it will be good to see him again. I love him as much as our connection allows and he knows he's one of the few people who is welcome to knock on my door without invitation or explanation, knowing he'll be ushered in with joy.
Until we meet again, the beat goes on.
🌸 🌸 🌸
There has been more conversing with the Astronaut lately. (See posts 804, 811, 855, and 876.)
He's scheduled to go home for the 4th of July, for a family reunion. He said he wants me to join him, which I just might do.
I haven't seen his people (who are my people too, sort of; more on that later) in almost 35 years. 📅📅
The Astronaut and I met the summer I was 17/18. He lived several hours and several hundred miles away but his brother was married to the sister of a guy my cousin was dating and the Astronaut came with them for a visit to my hometown.
He and I were instantly attracted to each other. We were inseparable the whole time he was in town and thought ourselves in love by the time he was heading back home. (I don't recall how long the visit was. Maybe a few week, maybe a couple of weeks.)
We made plans for me to visit him.
In the interim, there were lots of phone calls and sometimes letters. ☎ 🖊📃 💌📬 ☎
By the time I visited, we were talking marriage. 💍 💒
I loved everything about him, I thought.
But did we even have anything in common? Not much, it seemed.
He was a country boy, muscular and virile, with an accent that tickled my ears. His parents were still together living in the family home, his momma was a good cook, and he had lots of siblings, things that made me feel secure with him. And jealous of him.
I was a city girl, raised by a single mother and her family (mostly women). Cute and bookish but urban and sparkly enough to catch his eye. Dumb as a tick when it came to establishing and sustaining a healthy romantic relationship, certainly not able to create and foster a viable marriage.
The photos from my visit south, to see him and meet his family, are still in my collection. Decades later, the trip is still a fond memory for me.
My recollection is that we were gonna marry and move me south. We were researching jobs for me and planned to move into an apartment next to his brother and sister-in-law. But something happened and we broke up. Not during my visit but some time after.
Maybe the tedium of being in a long distance relationship with a man I didn't really know became overwhelming. Or boring. Or something else.
I do remember being married to my first husband and having sporadic contact with the Astronaut, Nothing untoward, just a few phone calls and a few letters. I recall telling him how I'd had a dream about his mom and him telling me she'd died the week of my dream...
At some point we lost touch.
Fast forward to meeting, dating, and marrying Mr. Bliss and Bam!
Big planet with billions of people and wouldn't ya know it, the Astronaut and I are now related by marriage. 😵😂
When I reminded him that tongues would be wagging if we attend the family reunion together, his response: So? I knew you first.
Alrighty then. (See definition number 4.)
🌸 🌸 🌸
Sweet dreams y'all.
p.s I just remembered that I must have visited the Astronaut at least twice, back in the day. The photos I mentioned are from a summer visit.
But there was also a visit when we went to the county fair, an autumn event. I remember because he took a photo of me lounging in a wooden glider-type swing but it was suspended by rope from a huge tree.
I was wearing a cream colored v-neck sweater and a pair of baggy floral pants in rust and navy blue, a favorite outfit that season.
That photo might be floating around in the archives. I'll have to search for it.
