I'm fine!

     Lisa laughs at  all the times my response to her question "How are you?"  is "I'm fine." Wendell Berry's Hannah Coulter, in his novel by the same name says;
   "I need to tell about my people in their grief. I don't think grief is something they get over or get away from. In  a  little community like this it is around us and in us all the time and we know it. We know that every night, war or no war, there are people lying awake grieving, and every morning there are people waking up to absences that never will be filled. But we shut our mouths and  go ahead. How we are is "Fine." There are a few who will recite their complaints, but the proper answer to "How are you?" is "Fine."
     "The thing you most dreaded has happened at last. The worst thing you might have expected has happened and you didn't expect it. You have grown old and ill, and most of those you have loved are dead or gone away. Even so"
   "How're you?"
   "Fine. How're you/"
   "Fine.'"                                           P.61
   

    Yes, this is how I was raised and I've said "Fine" countless times. And, sometimes, that's fine. :)

     Mary Hattlestad, my friend, died today. We worked together in 1963-64, before either of us were married. Since Joanne's death Mary's husband,Sam, has been a great comfort to me. Now I'll try to return the support. I'll soon write more about the time Mary and I worked together. Rest in peace, Mary, good and faithful servant.

Takk for alt,

Al