A post from this time in 2005, which seems as vivid to me as yesterday afternoon.
**********************************************I should have locked myself in my room Friday morning and stayed there until Sunday night.
But no, I stayed home and did stuff this weekend while Dave went to Algonquin Park with friends. He had a wonderful time, and came home exhausted and happy. I was waiting by the front door, stomach in knots, eyes swollen from crying and lack of sleep, waiting to tell him this story:
Lorna:” Sweetie, I’m sorry but there was some trouble with the car this weekend.”
Dave (he’s so perfect!) “Are you all right?”
Lorna: “I’m upset that’s all—I know how much you love that car…”
Dave: (he’s so perfect)”Don’t worry—just tell me what happened.”
Lorna: (nervously) “Well, Julia came for a sleepover, and I thought it would be nice to take her out to dinner. So I told her we’d have a Girls’ Night Out and we went to Red Lobster………you know how we usually avoid it, but it’s really quite a nice family-friendly place….
Dave: “It’s OK—just tell me what happened.”
Lorna: “They gave her a box of crayons and a colour-on placemat. She loved that. Did you know she can draw the sun? We talked about what she wanted and decided on steamed vegetables, and I ordered the fish, and Julia shared some of mine. She was drawing on napkins—the staff are nice, they kept giving her new ones. I told her it made me so happy when she was drawing because her drawings were so beautiful.”
Dave: (encouragingly) “Mmmmhmm…”
Lorna: “Everybody was so nice to her and she had a great time, and said good-bye to everyone we passed. Then, when we went out to the parking lot I couldn’t find my keys so I told Julia to stay near the car while I looked through my bag. She was so good—she stayed right by the car. Then she said “Look Mina, isn’t it beautiful?” and I looked and I could see that she’d drawn all over one side of the car with a rock!”
Dave: ( he is so perfect!) “Mmmmmhmmm…and is it bad?”
Lorna: “Well, at first I couldn’t tell because I just jumped and yelled, and Julia got all scared and she kept saying she just wanted to make me happy, and wasn’t it beautiful, so I had to go over and hold her and tell her she makes me happy but the drawing wasn’t good because it would damage the car…..but she just kept crying and saying she just wanted to make me happy, and people in the parking lot—a lot of people go to Red Lobster on the weekends!—were looking at me like I was a child-beater, so I got in the car and we went to Tim Horton’s because my hands were shaking, but they didn’t have any jelly timbits.
Dave: “MMMMMMMMHMMMM…is it BAD?”
Lorna: “Well Julia finally decided on a cinnamon bun and I got out to look. It isn’t very deep, but it’s on both doors and right down to near the taillights—not too bad, I guess. I’m so sorry.”
Dave: “Well, it’s not your fault….let’s go look at it.”
Lorna:” Sweetie, I’m sorry but there was some trouble with the car this weekend.”
Dave (he’s so perfect!) “Are you all right?”
Lorna: “I’m upset that’s all—I know how much you love that car…”
Dave: (he’s so perfect)”Don’t worry—just tell me what happened.”
Lorna: (nervously) “Well, Julia came for a sleepover, and I thought it would be nice to take her out to dinner. So I told her we’d have a Girls’ Night Out and we went to Red Lobster………you know how we usually avoid it, but it’s really quite a nice family-friendly place….
Dave: “It’s OK—just tell me what happened.”
Lorna: “They gave her a box of crayons and a colour-on placemat. She loved that. Did you know she can draw the sun? We talked about what she wanted and decided on steamed vegetables, and I ordered the fish, and Julia shared some of mine. She was drawing on napkins—the staff are nice, they kept giving her new ones. I told her it made me so happy when she was drawing because her drawings were so beautiful.”
Dave: (encouragingly) “Mmmmhmm…”
Lorna: “Everybody was so nice to her and she had a great time, and said good-bye to everyone we passed. Then, when we went out to the parking lot I couldn’t find my keys so I told Julia to stay near the car while I looked through my bag. She was so good—she stayed right by the car. Then she said “Look Mina, isn’t it beautiful?” and I looked and I could see that she’d drawn all over one side of the car with a rock!”
Dave: ( he is so perfect!) “Mmmmmhmmm…and is it bad?”
Lorna: “Well, at first I couldn’t tell because I just jumped and yelled, and Julia got all scared and she kept saying she just wanted to make me happy, and wasn’t it beautiful, so I had to go over and hold her and tell her she makes me happy but the drawing wasn’t good because it would damage the car…..but she just kept crying and saying she just wanted to make me happy, and people in the parking lot—a lot of people go to Red Lobster on the weekends!—were looking at me like I was a child-beater, so I got in the car and we went to Tim Horton’s because my hands were shaking, but they didn’t have any jelly timbits.
Dave: “MMMMMMMMHMMMM…is it BAD?”
Lorna: “Well Julia finally decided on a cinnamon bun and I got out to look. It isn’t very deep, but it’s on both doors and right down to near the taillights—not too bad, I guess. I’m so sorry.”
Dave: “Well, it’s not your fault….let’s go look at it.”
THUNK!!! Lorna falls over on the floor in a faint.
