Restaurants and Grief

This is the Maternal Figure, you know, the one who inspired most of my blogs. Well, ok, some of them were a little on the grouchy side, and this blog might get grouchy too, I'm not sure yet.

Read on!

I have been kind of out of sorts this weekend, I hate weekends anyway, nothing to do, things aren't open, can't make any phone calls, and it's been too hot to breath outside. So I've been stuck in the house, bored out of my mind.

But wait! Don't just sit around and feel sorry for yourself, DD, go DO something. Yeahhh, why didn't I think of that hours and hours ago? Oh, that's right, it was too hot outside to breath. But as nature will have it, (after all, it's not nice to fool mother nature anyway), it cools off in the evenings. Well, a little, anyway.

So I decide to get in my car and GO somewhere, Oh, how about the state park? Ah, yes, go see the river. So I gits out my bug spray, pour a thermos of homemade ice tea with a touch of rasberry flavor and goes out to start the car. Vroom, vroom, come on, AC, cool this buggy off!

The park was nice, they must have just mowed, everything was neat and tidy. And nearly devoid of any human presence. I found some people swimming in the river, and moved on. I took a road that looked like it would go forever in the woods, 'camping this-a-way' 'no dumping' and 'port-a-potties that-a-way' , the signs directed and announced. I saw some deer, shooting accusatory glances at me as they scuttled off the road. I parked in an empty lot near a play ground and walked to the river, wondering if I would be bitten by a poisonous snake or murdered by a woods-bum that might look a bit like Sasquatch.

Of course, I'm home typing this, so I survived the trip, (in case anyone was wondering). Well, I sort of survived the trip :(

I decided to stop at a little cafe in town, the one where the one-and-only hotel is. I ordered a delicious Chicken Scampi and sat back to enjoy the old guy who was playing blues and singing. I remembered that the last time I was in that restaurant and there was entertainment (better the last time, btw), I was with the Maternal Figure. She had the Catfish and ate like a hog. She shared her pecan pie with me. She sat right over there... Ok, I'm ok with that, just a nice memory. I chews my chicken, listens to the old guy croon, all is well.

A young woman, (ha ha, young, she was about my age!) came up to sing with the old crooner, all is well, she was good. She finished a song, I clapped, then she introduces her Mother, who was up from Florida on a visit. (Mama was small and frail, just about the same size as my Maternal Figure). "And Mama's favorite song is 'over the rainbow' and she's gonna sing with me, so a big hand for Mama!"

The old thing hobbled up to the mike and they sang together, arms around each other and looking at each other, smiling, singing, The old lady was really out of tune but it was clear the daughter was relishing every sour noted moment with her Mother.

I must be allergic to 'Over the rainbow' because for some strange reason I noticed that the room was getting blurry. Uh Oh, I realized I was going to do something embarrasing in a restaurant like CRY. I wolfed one more bite, found my waitress, paid the bill and sniffled my way out to the car. 'Geez', I was thinking, 'when is this grief crap going to be over?' Oh, what the hell, I'm in the car, I'll let the tears do thier thing. I told the car to take me home but it had other ideas, it took me to the cemetary. Ok, geez, I'll do the right thing and cry at her grave.

The picture you see before the Maternal Figure is my Pekingese, Kelita. She died in 'o6. I never thought I would grieve as hard as I did for Kelita. Maybe I was wrong..