#2291 too personal and too late to start over

It feels like it is eleventy-thirty o'clock! It is not even 10PM here in Sacramento, but that does mean it is nearly 11PM in SLC, so I guess I'm close in my crazy time-telling. It's been a long day.


Osi did wake me up again this morning, but at 5:00, so it was almost time to get up anyway. I was scurrying around making sure I had all the stuff I need for my work trip/family visit. I was extra busy at work from the minute I got there until the minute I left. I got to the airport and all was well. Got on the plane and started reading. I promptly fell asleep before wheels up. I don't even remember any of the pushing back from the gate or the standard safety talk. I woke up briefly when the beverage cart came by and the flight attendant told me to watch my elbow. I dozed after that and fully woke up when we landed.


I rented a car to drive to Dixon to see my aunt and uncle. I ended up with a Dodge minivan. I think my dad would have loved that vehicle! I was sitting up kind of high in the seat so I could see the road nicely. It kind of made a measly sound when I accelerated; not a beefy sound like my dad's truck made, but it got me down the road.


It's probably been a couple of years since I went to my aunt and uncle's house. Driving down the road to their place brought back a lot of memories for me. I used to spend summers there with my grandma and grandpa and aunt and the orchards on either side of the road are familiar.  I remember riding down that road in the back seat of our Ford Comet when we came to visit for Christmas. Sometimes it would be foggy. It wasn't foggy tonight, but it was rainy.


My aunt and uncle are solitary people. My aunt has lived her whole life in that house. She was born in Oklahoma, along with her siblings, but the family moved to California when the kids were little. My uncle moved away and lived in Idaho until his dad, my grandpa, died, then he went back to live with his mom and sister.


Even though my aunt and uncle live together, they live separately, in a way. Mary watches TV in the front room.  She has her little chair - the same one she has always had - that is positioned close to the TV, which blares at top volume for a couple of reasons. Number one is that Mary is hard of hearing. Reason two is that her weird little dog randomly barks and vocalizes loudly. I asked if he was making that racket because I was there, but they assured me he actually does it all the time. I'm telling you, the dog is retarded. I truly believe that.


My uncle mostly watches TV in his room. Maybe he doesn't like what Mary is watching. They do eat meals together. Both of them have different health issues. It seems like Dewey is taking care of both of them for the most part.


They have written their wills and set up a trust. Part of my visit was learning where the paperwork is stored and other stuff like that.


As I walked through the house with my uncle, I couldn't help but think of how it was when my grandparents were alive. Grandma always kept the house nice. Mary has always been a consumer. She buys stuff. When Grandma was alive, Mary mostly kept her stuff in her own room. Now she has access to the whole house and it is full, full of stuff. I can't even tell you how many of those big tins of popcorn I saw. How old are those? There was a Chinese checkers game that hadn't been open. She tried to give it to me but I told her I didn't have room in my suitcase. She also tried to give me a quilt, which I would like (my grandma was an excellent quilter), but again, the suitcase issue. She wanted to give me stationery too, envelopes and note paper or something.


Dewey was telling me the provenance of some of the furniture, which I enjoyed. There are some cool old pieces in there. There's some not cool stuff too. Dewey says he wants to have a yard sale someday. I told him to let me know and that MT and I would come to help. I think MT would go bonkers in that house. He doesn't like clutter and my word, that place is the definition of clutter.


I wouldn't say it's like a hoarder house as much as it is a house that has seen two generations live their lives there. My grandparents filled the house with their belongings, and now my aunt and uncle have added their belongings. They are both in their 70s, so that's a lot of stuff.


After the walkthrough and the info gathering, we sat together in the front room chatting. It really made me miss my dad. I sort of felt like he was there with me a little. I imagined him looking around the rooms and what he would think about the house he grew up in. My dad was neat and tidy and had a place for everything. Dewey is a little bit like my dad in that way but Dewey has a ton of old stuff that is stashed everywhere and never looked at or used. My aunts are not like my dad at all. They both have a lot of stuff.


Anyway, I left the house feeling a little melancholy. There were all those memories, all those thoughts about my dad, and there was sadness for my aunt and uncle, living out there in the country, kind of isolated and maybe lonely. I haven't done a good job of keeping in touch with them. I thought they would always be there and I took them for granted. I'm pretty sure there are many people like me: people who go about their own lives and don't take the time to think about people who have been important parts of their lives.


Sheesh...there's that melancholy mood poking up it's head again. Sorry! To be so tired and sleepy and to think these sad thoughts. I just need to get to bed.


I've got a long day ahead tomorrow sitting in the hotel conference room. I'll try to be a bit more cheerful in tomorrow's writing.