Anne's Blog

     I went to run some errands tonight. I don't often get cold or feel cold. I spent too many years in Minnesota to be affected by "cold temperatures" in the 30s. However, I was cold when I was out tonight which usually means I am getting sick or I am really tired. I am really tired. I wasn't dressed right for the "frigid" evening temperatures and I kept thinking the Army Coat would be perfect. I don't know why I thought of it even. I have numerous adequately warm things of my own I could wear including what I was wearing.      He is not the beginning and end of my life: He told me that once.  What a relief it was to find that out.  And yet, I thought of his coat when it was dark and I was unexpectedly cold.      I don't even know if it is, or was, used as an actual army coat. That is just how I think of it probably because it is made from a heavy, canvas-like, green-camouflage material. It has numerous, seemingly hidden pocket...

    When we pack up "To Go" food orders at work, we are supposed to write what food item it is and the date on the outside of the container.  I did that several times today and, as I did so, I remembered today was my Grandma Ritter's birthday. I am glad I remembered. She was a cool lady and a good grandmother and I have so many fond memories of her. She was born November 15, 1904 in Mandan, North Dakota and she lived the longest of any of my grandparents. Sadly, she had Alzheimer's the last 10 years of her life. When my oldest son, who is now 27 years old, was a relatively new baby, I took him to visit her at New Harmony Care Center on Geranium in St. Paul, Minnesota. That was the first place she lived when it was determined she could no longer remain at home. It was, literally, blocks away from my Grandparents' home at 83 Atwater St. I would imagine that the close proximity to their home was why they started there. Also, maybe and especially when you are sending ...

Tonight, unbidden, I thought of the Sunday night in August he walked here after he was done with work. I waited for him outside. It is not August anymore either by the calendar or in my life but, when I took my little dog out for his evening walk, I could feel him in the darkness of the cool, November night. I looked for him but I could not see him.  We had no DVD player but I had an unopened bottle of bourbon-barrel aged tequila. After he left the next morning, less than half of the liquid remained in the bottle sitting on the floor by the couch. We did not sit on the floor by the couch. We sat on the couch. I remember thinking I did not want to drink at all but I could not process the fact that he actually showed up.  I needed a crutch and a couple shots of tequila was that.