Andy and I are talking, making decisions, struggling to do what is best and right for Boo. I know everything will be okay.
He drove Jonah up this afternoon to visit my mom and me at her house. Jonah’s got the week off from school, and they’re coming up to grandma’s house for Easter Sunday too, so I get to see Boo twice this week.
When I first arrived, Jonah and Andy were already there. At one point Jonah opened the fridge, peered inside, and reached for a bottle of soda. Root beer? he said, placing the bottle on the counter. It was indeed a bottle of root beer. Andy asked how Jonah knew it was root beer. My mom replied that Jonah knew the look of the bottle.
Then I piped up. “He can read,” I told them. (Now I know as well as anyone that he only can read some sight words, but I wanted to see which ones he knew).
I picked up a milk carton and, showing it to Jonah, pointed to the word MILK. “What does this say, Jonah?” I asked him.
“Jonah,” he replied with indifference. Enough people have asked me to look at letters and tell them what I see, I almost hear him say. Not you, too, mama. Cut that shit out.
It has been a weird and wonderful day. I was treated to lunch by my lovely cousin-sister D. She is inspiring and is a genuinely good, positive person, which is rare enough to be precious to me. She listens as well as talks. This is a skill, requiring awareness. She’s better at it than I am. She’s good at it like few other people I know. Her spirit is bright and ready for a smart, engaging, adventurous future. Go D!
Also I was able to talk to a lot of interesting people over the phone at work. When your job is to be on the phone a lot, you may as well find out about people. You can brighten their day, maybe, or be the person who listens to their story of how they built a business up from scratch 16 years ago. You can’t just bullshit your way through caring how somebody’s day is going…that’s transparent, unless you’re genuine. After all, who can’t see through that pitch when it’s thrown at them?
Now I am home, and comfortable with Jack, Almanzo, M, and Seinfeld. It’s all I need right now.
The Never Normal 