Roommates

Took the Christmas tree down while waiting for Sean. Tom did his dishes. I put a log in the fireplace. I thought one should have a fire while taking the tree down. As usual, Tom went into his famous body language accompanied by a few grunts. I liked being home. I wanted to clean. What is it about cleaning that gives me this sense of worth? I wanted to read and write more, yet the satisfaction of reading and writing is dull next to cleaning. I do not mean just cleaning, I mean breathing life into dead space. I really do see this as restoration. The process of writing is much slower. The tree was dry, so we wrapped it up in a sheet and Tom and I put it on the side of the house. Sean had his two plastic bags packed and little if any emotion was displayed by anyone. This is Sean's fourth time to enter treatment, but I feel this is the first that he has arrived on his own. It's the third time that I have chauffeured. The day is rainy and gray. Yet none of it has any impact on me. I am free of all expectations. Seans antics have raised a few eyebrows, but Dukakis's bushes caught Sean's attention when Michael asked Kitty, "Whose that kid?"

 

Copyright; Ruth Mahoney 12-Jan-89