The other day I was invited to a friend’s house for coffee, and yesterday I had a friend over at my place, and somehow it all felt familiar — the way it should be — and yet oddly strange. Are we really emerging from the lockdown mentality of the past two years? I’m triple vaxxed and still pop on a mask in a store and will definitely wear a mask on Transit, and yet, eating and visiting with folks outside my bubble, well it’s wonderful, isn’t it! I’m particularly pleased to have visitors because some months ago I got a new sofa and chair and now I also got a new coffee table and end tables. And would you believe, I even assembled the tables myself? Everything in that department was always Helmut’s job. I could have asked my son to help but I thought, he’s plenty busy so I’ll give it a try first at least, and soon I was turning the Allen wrench like an old pro and nothing’s fallen down yet.

I was startled today when I opened “Borrowing Bones” and saw it’s been more than four months since I’ve written here. Since then I have a darling new grandson and Christmas happened and in January, my mother died (today would be her 100th birthday, in fact, and my siblings and I are going to Zoom together later to commemorate), and not long after that, two of Helmut’s older siblings in Paraguay died. The livestream of his brother’s funeral was at four o’clock in the morning my time, so I woke and watched it, but when it was done I fell asleep again and I had the most wonderful dream in which Helmut and his brother were talking happily behind a kind of screen or gauzy material, and then Helmut stepped through it and gave me a very tight hug. In February, I spent the first anniversary of his death with the Toronto kids and we had a family Zoom on that day while eating DQ blizzards, which was a favourite treat of his.

So all these things have come and gone, and now it’s March and spring and locally the blossoms are out. I suppose the theme of this little post is simply “time passes and there’s much to be grateful about.” (Though we’re riveted and saddened by events in Ukraine, birthplace of both my parents.) I have some book news to tell you about too, but I’ll save that for a subsequent post. I’ve decided I must try to be a little more regular here. See you again soon!