…shuffling together across the grocery store floor. I do not know where they were headed but he was pushing the cart, she was hanging onto his arm. They were both short…about the same height as I am…not like my parents who were taller. But…it hurt me…it made me cry…it made me miss my parents and how they were always together….dependent upon each other. Helping each other. I wish I could see them again like that…together, supporting each other. I had to dart down an aisle to get composed and went on to finish my shopping. A while later, I was headed back to the registers and saw them together in the hair care aisle….he was handing her hair scrunchies and clips as she chose the ones she wanted. Her hair was lighter grey than his, similar to my mom’s hair…and then I noticed the bruising around her temple and eye…a common thing for those who fall. One time I went over to my mom’s and she was reading a magazine but kept it in front of her face..eventually she lowered it and she had a black eye…she had fallen and hit her cheek. She jokingly said that she got too mouthy and dad whacked her…which got dad all spun up because he was afraid she would say this in public and the cops would come after him…but she tripped over one of those damn area rugs she put in front of the recliners and couches to protect the carpet…they did not protect her though. Over the years, those rugs caused many to trip.

I don’t know how long it will be before things like this no longer upset me. It is okay that it does upset me though…it just means I am not emotionally disconnected. At least I have the comfort of knowing that I was there for my parents for 57 years. I always lived within 40 minutes of them for 57 years.

Now it is my turn to move on to my next path in life. A new beginning in someplace new. I hope to be able to shuffle with my husband in the grocery store for many more years. We will be the short ones with silver hair….my husband will have a beard, I hope to not.

Peace out homies