June 23rd 2024

Saturday the 22nd…  We went to bed after midnight.  Mark and Tammy came over earlier for dinner I had prepared on the grill.  Shortly after that, Nate came over.  (That was planned!  It wasn’t random!) We had spent the night playing a couple of board games, toasting some Port, and sharing a bottle of mead we had picked up with Summer at Pikes Market on our epic western road trip.

It was a good night, even if I went to bed on the 23rd.

The next day… I was up at 6:30.  The indoor cat does not care if it’s Saturday.  She wants to be fed on the schedule she has become accustomed to.  The kittens I lock up every night to make sure they are not absconded by a raccoon need to be let out.  So, I put on shoes and fed and released them.  Nate had mentioned the night before that he now gets up early…  So I checked to ensure he was not hanging around in the kitchen waiting for coffee.  Nope, the house was silent short of the crunch of cat food.  I went back to bed.

Around 8, I was waking up for the second time.  I heard footsteps… Angela came into our bedroom and said “Happy Birthday”.

Yep, it is my birthday.  What will this day become?

I eventually migrated to the kitchen and Nate eventually rose from the basement.  We got around to coffee.

Angela had some presents for me and Nate had a card.  It was a good morning.

In the meantime, Angela was quizzing me on what I wanted to do.  Is it MY day?  I figured… What the Hell…  If I have my druthers… I want to go to Kemps or somewhere we never get too.  A quick search revealed that Kemps is closed on Sundays.   Bummer.  Destihl?  I have not been there in a while… But that place is a little dour.  Does that sound bad?  It never feels fun! That has to be me.  What about Little Beaver Brewery?

It was a plan.

Nate, my folks and Dawn and Don had a grand time at an inside table.  Don and I wore the same shirt… Without planning ahead.  So that was a comedy routine for the Beaver staff… And my fam.  We had lots of laughs and I think we were there over 2 hours.

Afterward, we went with Nate to the game store, Red Racoon, so I could show him a game that I was looking at.  It was sold since our last visit.  I was slightly bummed.  But, I have plenty of games… And I even own a few that I have never played!  The horror!

Ang and I came home that night and watched a  Rock Hudson/Paula Prentis movie with a terrible plot on Prime. 

Very pedantic day?  Mostly.

On the way to Bloomington for breakfast…   I stepped out of my silent mode and told Angela that I dont think June 23rd has more significance in my life over June 22nd or the 24th.  I miss Summer equally every day and I am not sure that the date pins more relevance to that.  I had imagined that I would have some kind of Jeckle and Hyde relationship with this date as it crept up on me.  I continued my thought with Angela as we drove that maybe June 33rd will be a bit like Memorial Day for me.  For us?

I received so many notes from friends and family throughout the day.  It was inspiring… And daunting.  I sat on the couch after Angela went to bed and responded (or liked) to them all.  The theme for many of them centered around how difficult this day must be.  Going back to the conversation with Angela in the car…  It is no better or worse than any other day.  I know I made that blog post on Saturday about wanting more for Summer’s legacy than what I have accomplished so far… But that post must have been some inner rage that was festering long before this weekend.  Those messages from everyone gave me great comfort to know that many others were thinking of us…  I guess this blog sometimes works as an attention-seeking blowhorn as I continually yell from the rooftops that Summer was important and everyone needs to know it.

Is that narcissism creeping in again?

I certainly don’t want to seem like a crying baby over the corner demanding attention.

Knowing the weakness and acknowledging this is the first step?  Right?

Thanks for the birthday wishes.

Tomorrow is June 25th.  Another day…