Journal entry by Al Negstad — 26 minutes ago
In 2018 I spent 54, nights in The Little House On The Prairie. In addition there were 29, guest nights (counting 1, for each night a person stayed over night). That is a little less than my average but with Joanne's illness and death there was a time I didn't visit.
What was really different was Joanne never made it to the house in 2018. January we typically don't go. In February she was in Arizona. By the end of March she was in hospice and she died April 12.
So, tonight, as I sit in 'my' chair in the Little House 'her' chair, the identical recliner to the one she had in Minneapolis, sits empty. It is a mute reminder of the presence of absence reminding me of; what has been lost, how much she loved it here, how fragile is life.
Why did she like this Little House so much? It took her away from the TV and her connection to MSNBC and CNN. Was it a relief to let go of politics for a bit? She loved reading in that recliner; the night she read Cutting for Stone, she read until she heard the birds singing in the morning. 😁 When she was more mobile she'd join the women for coffee downtown. Connecting to the extended family was important. Did it connect her to her South Dakota roots from where her parents came and where she worked on three occasions? It's a plain little house built in 1925, comfortable but nothing fancy. She often remarked about how happy she was that we'd bought it.
Now, ZERO in 2018 and obviously, ZERO in perpetuity! No, I don't like it, but what can I do?
Blessings.
Al
What was really different was Joanne never made it to the house in 2018. January we typically don't go. In February she was in Arizona. By the end of March she was in hospice and she died April 12.
So, tonight, as I sit in 'my' chair in the Little House 'her' chair, the identical recliner to the one she had in Minneapolis, sits empty. It is a mute reminder of the presence of absence reminding me of; what has been lost, how much she loved it here, how fragile is life.
Why did she like this Little House so much? It took her away from the TV and her connection to MSNBC and CNN. Was it a relief to let go of politics for a bit? She loved reading in that recliner; the night she read Cutting for Stone, she read until she heard the birds singing in the morning. 😁 When she was more mobile she'd join the women for coffee downtown. Connecting to the extended family was important. Did it connect her to her South Dakota roots from where her parents came and where she worked on three occasions? It's a plain little house built in 1925, comfortable but nothing fancy. She often remarked about how happy she was that we'd bought it.
Now, ZERO in 2018 and obviously, ZERO in perpetuity! No, I don't like it, but what can I do?
Blessings.
Al
No comments:
Post a Comment