Something got in the way of this week’s story. I slipped back into the time tunnel, which seems to be happening a lot lately.
It all started with a few trips down memory land, an escaping dog, a movie and a car wash.
My mom, after several months of deliberation, decided to sell our family home of almost 50 years, now, this month. Yikes. This prompted an extended visit to assist her in weeding through Phase One of The Purge.
I started in the garage, my dad’s favorite room, cram packed with his tools, the smell of his pipe tobacco still hanging in the air. Flashback to my 10-year-old self, fascinated by my dad’s talents as a builder and fixer, always eager to accompany him to Center Lumber, his “toy” store. The heat was intense and emotions equally high. Photos albums of our young family lure us from every room to enter the time capsule. A closet clean out reveals my mother’s wedding dress, stuck in time, hanging there just like it was ready for a celebration. I could not resist. After wiggles and many tugs, the stiff lace fell into place, filling in all the curves of my body. I could feel my mom’s excitement at age 23, awaiting a new life, the birth of me and then my brother.
My Mother’s Daughter
To break the spell of the past and for a few hours ground ourselves in the present, we took time off for a theater movie to see Chef. Happy and funny, it makes you want to jump into the kitchen and start chopping. A welcome comedic relief of inspiration.
Feeling the unsettled energy in the house, Sparky decided to dig out of the yard and take himself for a front yard walk while I was on the way to the car wash. Thank goodness for neighbors who noticed the Spark in front of the house and gave us a call. This interruption in my schedule, although unnerving, was the best thing that happened to me all day. The car wash now took place in the front yard, where I once again entered the time tunnel and almost went into a trance. The year was 1974. The car receiving the scrub was a yellow Capri. Does anyone remember this car? I loved her – so compact and sporty and yellow! She was totally me!
So what got in the way of this week’s story? Life. This blast from the past, a reflection on my life, an opportunity to review my life’s path, was both enlightening and melancholy. Saying goodbye to the orange and apricot trees and to the house that made me feel so safe and comfortable as a young girl, signals the end of one era and optimistically, the beginning of a new, bright path.
If any of you have experienced this déjà vu, I’d love to hear from you!
“Yesterday is but a dream, Tomorrow is only a vision. But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope.”― Kālidāsa, The complete works of Kalidasa
Ciao for now,
Mary
