Talking to Mary

My cousin Mary finally called yesterday. We talked for a long time. Her husband is recovering well from his cancer surgery (oral cancer), and she's just back from a two-week vacation. I keep hoping they'll come up here, but since she winds up taking half a dozen of her grandchildren with her on vacation, I'm just as glad they didn't come up here. I like children okay, but I can't imagine where I would have put all of them.

We went to the bookstore last night where I blew $100 plus change. I'm a sucker for a bookstore. I can walk by virtually every other kind of store in the world and not be very interested in their merchandise, but bookstores are addictive. It was too warm in there, though, so by the time we left, I felt overheated. The temperatures have cooled somewhat now, so we had the windows open last night, but it feels pretty humid today. I suspect that the air conditioning will have to be turned on before the afternoon ends.

Esteemed Spouse was up at dawn for his weekly golf date. Later, when he returns all tired, sleepy, and sunburned, I'll get to nag him for risking skin cancer. He truly is at great risk, and I worry a lot about it. He spritzes on the sunscreen, but I doubt that he gets good coverage. The back of his neck and the bridge of his nose often are red, despite the hat he wears. Maybe he should visit a hospital where people have had skin cancers removed from their faces and are left with parts of noses. The man loves golf too much to avoid playing, and it would be useless to ask him to stay out of the sun. I just wish he'd be more careful. Mary and her husband have been through great trauma with Johnny's oral cancer, and it's not a phase of life I want to endure.

I also heard last night via email from my cousin in Houston who is on a liver-transplant waiting list. He has been at death's door a couple of times already. I wish his turn would come. He's a sweet guy.

Last night I went through a little while of thinking about all the people I've lost in the last few years and realizing that those numbers will just continue to rise as I age, since, of course, everyone else is aging, too. Some of the people I've lost haven't been very old, though. My cousin was in his late fifties. My uncle was younger than I am by a few months. Death does its snatch-and-grab, and someone is gone forever.

And on that "cheerful" note.... S.