The Pieces Of Ourselves We Left Behind

When We Thought We Knew Everything

(Pictures Of Me & Grandma Before She Passed)

“…And that’s the scary thing about life, it never changes all at once. Just a little bit at a time. The last time you see your best friend never feels like ‘the last time’, it just feels like the next of many more ‘Hellos!’ and ‘Goodbyes’ to come!”-Mom

Reflections

I was standing on a wide opened space of grass in my neighborhood, a common walking area shared by others who live in the same community as me. In a place called “Forest Creek” on Halloween 2026. It’s getting progressively darker as I loiter on this land with no official tenant or owner, other than an HOA that we all pay once a month to be able to live here. There is work to be done that I’m avoiding, but I figure I could justify holding it off for a bit longer if I could just stare at the setting sun behind the clouds as dusk arrives.

For such a traditionally festive time of year, I notice a distinct lack of whimsey filling the air. I can’t believe what I’m not seeing; no kids ambling out of houses wearing costumes with empty pillow sacks in hand, ready to make the rounds in the neighborhood for what would have been an annual prowl for candy in my youth! I stand there believing that things will change, but knowing that they probably will not.