Today is “tax day.” Although I am due a refund, I still had issues with getting my documents in to the post office. The printer being out of white paper, and not having stamps were just a few of the little issues that popped up for me. I knew that these were not show stoppers by any means. It hit the line up of cars at the post office yesterday afternoon. With the crowds present, I thought that there should have been red, white, and blue balloons up to glorify the occaision. Maybe they were saving those for today.
As I find my spot in line, I find it difficult not to think back to my husband’s little tax filing-related issues that came up over the past many years. These problems were never show stoppers either. In fact, generally, the only problem was that he had not made the time to comb the house one last time for missing receipts to add a deduction or two. I always had the return done in plenty of time for his review, but it seemed that we could never get the return done for the April 15th deadline. When the October deadline rolled around, he was no more ready to sign on the line than before. In fact, I would guess that 90% of the time, the tax return hadn’t changed since its pre-April 15th state.
This year marks the second return that I have filed without my dear husband’s signature. It is the second year that the return has hit the post office by the April deadline. That, in and of itself, brings on a level of sadness that is “taxing.” I guess I miss fighting about not being on time.