In my last story, I sang a sad song about being sick and totally alone. I admit, I have wondered from time to time what would happen if I just did not emerge from my house one day. Would anyone notice?
Well, the votes are in and halleluia – yes – someone would notice.
My doubts about the caring of my fellow street dwellers are now over – at least for this week.
I should explain that I have always been able to keep up appearances since my husband’s death. I mow the lawn and I blow the snow – right on schedule. No one would know, by the looks of my house inside or out that anyone had died here. It takes a lot of effort, but I have really put out the power to keep things looking “normal”.
Well, I came down with the flu on Friday and a huge snow storm hit on Saturday. I looked out at the drifts of snow across my front walk and driveway and I cursed the fact that this would be the first time since Jim died that I would not be able to keep up. I reversed my direction and went back to bed – hiding under the covers with cold hands, icy feet and chills that made my teeth chatter. What would it matter when the hearse came anyway…..
When I woke up in the afternoon, I heard the unmistakable sound of a shovel in my driveway. My new neighbour had already shoveled out my driveway and was working on my sidewalk. I raced to the front door to thank him with what remained of my voice and he said it was nothing. He will never know how much that meant to me.
I was not alone after all.
