Did you ever get lost?
The first time I remember being lost was at a fall fair when I was six. Six was a magical all-grown-up age for me, so I was, of course, totally done with holding on to my mother’s hand. That was for three-year-old baby sisters, not for me. The three of us were walking across the crowded midway to the exhibits building and I was gawking up at everything in all directions. (Even though you’re grown up at the age of six, you’re still short.) So I got turned around and disoriented and found myself looking up at a strange mother who was definitely not mine. Panic glued my feet to the ground. I had no idea what to do next, so I didn’t do anything. It crossed my mind to yell, but I wasn’t sure what would be appropriate. Mom? Help? Save me? I’m LOST! I couldn’t find my voice. I thought I might cry. And then suddenly my mom and sister were there in front of me again, having been missing for maybe thirty seconds total, and I was awash with relief. Mom told me how smart I was to stay in the same spot and not go running off in some random direction so that she wouldn’t know where to look for me. I’ve never forgotten that. Now when I think I might be lost, I stop moving. And thus I don’t get even more hopelessly lost than I already am.
Who was your best friend in elementary school?
The best friend thing also started for me at the age of six. It was a very good year. We moved to a different rural township just before I started school and at some community function during that first summer I met a little red-haired girl. We discovered that we would be starting school together. We were giddy with excitement. Well, I think she was excited too, although it’s possible I had enough enthusiasm for both of us. We spent the next eight years together moving through the grades in a one-room schoolhouse, and as much time together in the summers as we could. Shirley was my best friend well beyond elementary school, even though we went off to different high schools. We got summer jobs together, lived together for a year at University, tried to always stay in touch. But life happens. I moved north and then to a province on the other side of the country. We both got married, had kids and jobs, sent Christmas cards back and forth. It really is all down hill after elementary. Now we’re grandmas, five and six times over. My hair is grey and hers is still red. Not everything in life is fair.
Since the new television season has started in the US, list three favorite TV shows.
The only TV shows I watch are on Netflix where there are no commercials and season after season of exciting episodes playing until the battery on my I-Pad dies. If you’re going to waste time, might as well make a marathon out of it and get it out of your system. Or not, since that’s never actually happened to me yet. Dr. Who, Psych, The Good Wife, Hemlock Grove (don’t ask), Sherlock…..(so now you know the above picture of London is not some random thing I threw in for no reason). OMG! I just noticed Netflix has new episodes of Once Upon a Time and Covert Affairs! There goes another month of my life.
If you were a mouse in your house in the evening, what would you see your family doing?
There’s just me and W. He’s downstairs watching football and I’m upstairs sharing my life with strangers. The mouse got bored and fell asleep.
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
There are so many things I’m grateful for I hardly know where to start. Top of the list I guess is my health after many tests and procedures and appointments and a month of heavy-duty antibiotics. The investigation continues. At my follow-up appointment today the specialist and I agreed that there hasn’t been any change, for better or for worse, and that it’s now time to delve deeper and excise the demons. If you don’t know the whole story, don’t worry. I like to be dramatic. I’m having a lump below my jaw surgically removed in the next 2 or 3 weeks. It has been assessed as inflammation and benign, but it’s still a lump and it’s still worrisome. Now I have a bunch of papers and requisitions for pre-op tests and lab work, starting with a patient history and physical on Wednesday morning. All the details you didn’t need to know will no doubt follow. Because tomorrow is my last day of work. Now, instead of my work schedule scribbled on the calendar, we will have it filled up with medical appointments and I will have nothing but time on my hands to tell you all about them. Hey, isn’t that what retirement is all about? I’m looking forward to it, even if you’re not.
Breathing Space 
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