One bright moment
I’m home sick today, and Nat came over to keep me company this afternoon. We channel surfed, unable to watch most television shows for more than a few minutes at a time. We don’t have much interest in, well, much of anything. And, Christmas commercials? Too much.
We talked. I dozed. He read the newspaper. I answered phone calls from work. He went to the kitchen to make a sandwich. I dozed.
When I woke up, I called his name, and he didn’t answer. I got up to look for him, and called again. He was upstairs in Owen’s rooms. I climbed the too-narrow stairs, feeling dizzy from the cold/flu thing I have. He was standing in front of the big bookcase, looking for DVDs and books to take home.
I turned on the string of M&M lights hanging over a doorway, thinking what a kid Owen was at 20. I said we should hang up his Christmas lights, and Nat agreed. I got them out of the closet, and he plugged them in. They worked. I was so relieved. Just a few replacements to make tomorrow, I thought. I said I thought Owen would be glad we were using his lights, that he had been so happy with them strung around his balcony last year in his apartment.
We decided to string them through the bannister along the stairs, and Nat plugged them in nearby. We tightened some of the bulbs, and that’s all they needed. Then, I noticed that it would be better to plug them in downstairs, so I don’t have to climb the stairs every night. So, we reversed the string, already partly strung, and there was a lot of clicking of bulbs and tangling of wire. We strung the lights up again, and I went to find an extension cord. When we plugged them in, nothing. We tried everything – tightening all the bulbs, changing plugs, trying other electrical things in the outlet, and nothing. Nat said, “Isn’t that just the way. They came on for one bright moment.” I said, “Well, of course. They were Owen’s.”
Nat said he would come back some night this week and help me wind a new string of lights up the stairs. Owen would like it. He always liked getting new stuff, no matter what the season. We’ll buy the same kind, and stare at them into the night, just like we did when the kids were little.
Owen was with us for one bright moment that lasted almost 21 years. I light a candle for him every night. In just a few minutes, I’ll strike the match, and wait until Nat returns to stare at Christmas lights into the night.
Song for the night: The Chipmunk Song, Alvin and the Chipmunks (This song always made Owen laugh when he was little. When he got older, he couldn’t help but smile.)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=up8B6ba6f9M
And what a bright moment it was…Lonnette