Day Two

• Posted on January 2, 2012
• by Karen Fayeth
• 11 Comments

And so the new year starts. As The Good Man and I waved adieu to a year filled with both highlights and lowlights, it seemed most all we could think of was lowlights. As new years eve began to wane, The Good Man and I held hands tightly and tried to summon up some optimism for the new year ahead.

Maybe things would be better in 2012. Or at least different in a positive way.

We agreed that moving house was a first step toward that positive kind of change.

In a rare bit of daydreaming, we allowed ourselves to imagine what might lie ahead, and talked of plans.

Then we stood up, dusted the beach sand off our butts, and went and had lunch. We talked of politics and authors and how damn good the French press coffee is at The Ritz.

We came home feeling a little calmer. A little happier. A little more optimistic.

The first day of the new year came rolling through, and it seemed like we were going to be ok.

Then last night The Good Man got some very bad news. Someone very important in his life has passed away. It was quite unexpected and a bit shocking.

Today I find this puts a bit of a tint to our lives in the new year.

Grief has a funny way of overcoming a weakly positive outlook.

And so another medal of honor from this battle called life is awarded to the heart. Not pretty ribbons but scar tissue. Countable, like rings in a tree.

In the timeless lyrics of Isaac Hayes and David Porter, “When something is wrong with my baby, something is wrong with me.”

Tomorrow means I go back to work. The rhythm of our lives begins again.

What news is riding on the waves of tomorrow, I wonder? I hope there’s cake. Or at least a good cup of coffee.

Photo Copyright 2007, Karen Fayeth, and subject to the Creative Commons license in the far right column of this page.