I have a beer fairy.
Let me back up for a minute. During the Great Depression of 2018, I realized that keeping alcohol at home was a terrible idea. A beer here and there is no problem, but when I would buy a six pack I tended to self destruct — I won’t get into all the details, but suffice it to say it was bad enough to make my therapist give me her cell phone number.
Hey! Who’s tired of talking about depression?!
We’ll take a break in that regularly scheduled programming and step back to talk about Halloween costumes!
Last week, the news felt like some sort of extended posthumous birthday notification for my dad. I watched as Michael became a hurricane on Monday — the day before what would have been my dad’s 63rd birthday. Shaking my head, I had to laugh a little as the forecasts for Tuesday grew more dire. Of course. The hurricane discussions prior to landfall would have expanded his already large head such that fitting through doors would have been difficult.
My mom, sister, and I drove around New Bern yesterday, taking turns naming people we know who lost everything– family friends, personal friends, the children and parents of friends. My sister occasionally interjected with the name of someone who had to be water-rescued.
Six months ago, I lost my dad. Or, was in the process of losing him.
The distinction between “here” and “gone” is fuzzy. What I know is that at 4:20 pm on March 28th, I thought the day was as bad as it could get. By 4:25, pm that perspective had been turned upside down.
I’ve been staring at a blank screen for half an hour hours, trying to figure out where to go with this blog post. What do you even say as you watch your hometown become the center of national news?
It has always been strangely easy to write about myself. It’s how I work through the shit my brain throws at me, so it wasn’t a big jump to start writing for a larger(ish) audience. The last few years have taught me a lot about connecting with readers and the avoidance of naval gazing.