She Gets Me

JannyLou came for a visit this weekend.  Fast Eddie had a cold (not COVID; he kept testing just to be sure) so he stayed home.  It was old home week without one quarter of us; somehow, we made do.

She had plans with her sorority sisters on Friday night, so she breezed in and out, taking a garage door clicker so she could return at her leisure.  It was fun saying Don't be late and Drive carefully and, my favorite reminder of Little Cuter's time at home during college, TBG wondering Do you have cash?

The kid went back to college with a roll of twenties, because Dad kept offering them to me.

We stayed up to be sure she got home okay.... well, we stayed out in the living room after 10pm..... and she came home with the smile you get after spending time with people who've known you since college.

She spent the next morning with a bestie, dining out for lunch and bringing home Costco steaks and country bread for dinner.  I wouldn't let her help with dinner preparations.  I wanted her to feel like a guest.... even though she kept insisting that she wasn't a guest at all.

Dr. K  and Not Kathy came over for dinner and conversation and laughing and catching up.  It reminded me of what I lost when our neighbors moved to Phoenix - a blending of my friends, hearing old stories through new ears, reaffirming the fact that we are not alone in our outlook or beliefs.  There are others out there if we can find them.

She left this morning after french toast and strawberries for breakfast and a walk across the street to see what the new-since-she-moved-neighbors are doing to their 12.5 acre spread.  

There seems to have been a house or two behind the overgrown vegetation, untended for the seventeen years we've lived here.

And now she's gone and the house is empty again.  I like the people who bought her house, I really do.  But it just isn't the same as having JannyLou nearby.

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I didn't know what to do with the two asides indented up there.  Parentheses seemed bulky.  Adding them to the paragraph was equally awkward.  So, I made up my own construction.  I hope you like it.