I'm sitting on the couch of the room we’ve rented for our stay at Key West. This is our last night here, and it’s been a good vacation, especially with the wet, cold weather in Knoxville. Amy and I have enjoyed the sun, excursions to places, the food, and the pool that overlooks the ocean. Tomorrow will be a long one as we don’t arrive home until 11:00 p.m.
I’m ready to be home. Amy and I needed a break from home, but I miss my dogs. Sadie and Harvey have been in good hands as my niece Mindy dog sat for us. Prior to our leaving, those two old dogs had sat with me constantly over the three weeks that I suffered and healed from pneumonia. My sleeping was confined to the recliner on the right side of the couch, and at some point every night, both pooches were in the room with me. After we moved to the kitchen for my first cup of coffee, Saide herded me back to the couch, where she and Harvey once again watched over me.
The time has come to return to life in Knoxville. I’m also looking forward to having Sadie lie on my lap with her head on the arm of the couch and Harvey burying his nose behind my back as he sits so close to me. Including Amy, we are a pack. Our loyalties run deeply, and our love for each other has no bounds. We’re all in the senior years of our lives, and taking care of one another is the top job of every day.
I have another confession to make as I sit in this warm weather paradise. I miss my son Dallas. He’s been gone for more than a year, but the emptiness seems to increase. I crave his constant picking at me over some silliness just to get a rise out of me. He would push until I reached the boiling point and then grin at me to let me know he’d won the battle again. I want him to come to Christmas dinner early, pick up turkey from the tray and eat it and then grab a corner piece of dressing and stuff it in his mouth while I howled at his uncivilized actions.
I have been re-reading Sh!t My Dad Says. Without a doubt, it is the funniest book I have ever read. Dallas loved that book as well, and he often stated that he was going to begin writing down the things I came up with and declared they were every bit as funny. He never got the chance to write them down. I wish he had because those words would have taken me back to the time when he was here and so much fun. The boy added to our lives every minute of the five years he’d moved back to Knoxville.
Christmas will be here soon. I’m thankful for my sweet wife, my two dogs, and my daughter and her family. We’ll celebrate the season and be happy, but just a whisp of sadness will pass by as we feel the emptiness of the chair where Dallas sat. For so many folks, this time of year is one mixed with joy and sadness, and getting through it is tough. I’m glad to know that the reason we celebrate Christmas is because it signals the arrival of a child who grew up to save us all from death and offers us an eternity in a better place.
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