That’s just how it is

I got back into the van, after filling up my gas tank – thus draining my bank account of all of my hard-earned money. YaYa was in the back with my iPod.

As I began to drive, I could hear Tom’s voice saying, “Come on Julie, you’re almost there…” Startling thought it was, it didn’t take long for me to realize the source of the voice. The blend of voices and music that followed was familiar to me. DD had recorded Tom and kids’ voices and mixed it to a lively beat for encouragement on my long runs and races. I never dreamed that it would one day serve as the only way my son would be able to hear his own Dad’s voice again.

The song finished, and immediately it began again, and again. At the stoplight, I looked back at YaYa to check his face for tears. “Are you okay?” I asked. His answer was quiet, but the response was “yes.” I turned back towards the front of my car, just as a tear rolled down my cheek. The light turned green and, just like that, we were wiping away our tears and moving forward once again.

No longer is it strange to find that the process of filling up is completely draining. That’s just how it is these days.

Then you move onward.

I wonder if we can get the recording of Tom entertaining everyone with a story from his childhood. He told it at his sister Judy’s 50th Jubilee – celebrating 50 years as a nun. He told such an entertaining story, he did. Everyone was laughing outloud (LOL) and, some, were litterally rolling on the floor (ROTF).

I bet YaYa would LOVE to hear that one. I’ll have to ask DD for it again.