Thursday, July 5th 2007

Today is Monday, Jan. 7th 2007 and my eyes continue to brim with tears because I know he’s leaving this week. I can’t stand to think about it and yet can’t get it out of my head.

On my birthday, Johnny told me to be “dressed” and ready to leave the house around 1:15 PM. OK… so… how to dress? “Ma – wear something kinda nice”.

My birthday was exceptional in that I usually cook for the family on NY Day and we have a cake to celebrate my birthday. The hard truth is that on my real birthday I’m cleaning up from the previous day, but that’s OK – it’s what the holidays are all about. This year? Damn, Johnny took me for that surprise luncheon then invited his siblings over for dinner. He cooked chicken breasts with a pesto rub on the grill outside, parslied red skinned potatoes, a medley of broccoli, zucchini, carrots, onions and garlic bread drenched with butter.

Then came time to get ready for Dad’s memorial service. Eight years is a long time, but memories don’t die and love never goes away. Everyone came back to the house for lunch and, of course Johnny was the perfect host. Aimie was here to help, too. I love her dearly and the common bond of love we have for Johnny has anchored our friendship for the long haul.

What a crazy mix of emotions! No matter what, I can’t let Johnny’s departure get me down. Well, not until he’s actually gone anyway. I am so blessed to have my family and our friends here together. It really, just can’t get any better and I cherish each moment. I’ll be sad when he’s gone and then I’ll get over it like always and start to relish our daily phone conversations.

This entry was posted by Ma Hazzard on Thursday, July 5th, 2007 at 6:38 PM and is filed under Anthropology, Food & Wine, It's All Relative. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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