Life After Windbird, Day 44: Taking Care of Business
Date: Sunday, September 25, 2016
Weather: Sunny, but Chilly and Windy; High 62 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio #8, Falmouth, MA

Yikes! It is suddenly very chilly here. I spent my entire day sitting at the dining table taking care of business and wearing a polar fleece jacket. It is a little hard to adjust to the sudden drop in temperature. But I was warm enough as I sat for most of the day sending out evite’s to friends to attend the October 4th celebration of life for Mark hosted by New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR). I still have a few more people to contact, but the inviting is mostly done. Tomorrow I hope to talk to Scott McPherson at NHPR to touch basis about the program for the event. But today, it was cathartic to just sit here and work on the computer. So that made it an easy day. I took breaks to measure for the possibilities of buying a tool storage unit for the bedroom, to eat lunch, and later in the day to watch a little political news on MSNBC. I haven’t watched television news since Mark died, but it is now time to get back into the fray. I also had a long telephone conversation with Sam Weigel, Windbird’s new captain. I helped my next door neighbor, Kat (short for Katherine) move some IKEA boxes containing bookshelves into her apartment, and then finally, I gathered up things that belong to the Goldstones and took them to their house. When I got there, I heard someone blowing the conch shell. That usually means dinner is ready, but this evening it was Ollie learning to blow the conch. He did a great job. I tried and still can’t do it. There must be some ‘trick’ that I’m missing since a four year-old can do it quite well. It was time for dinner there, so I gave the boys kisses and snuck out quickly.

It is just about two weeks to the minute since Mark died in my arms. Life goes on, but it is very, very different and difficult. I just feel empty. But I’m looking forward to the arrival of most of my nieces and nephews from my side of the family this Friday. That will make for a lively weekend. Then I head to New Hampshire on Tuesday, October 4th, for the celebration of Mark’s life hosted by New Hampshire Public Radio. Windbird’s new owners, Sam and Dawn, think they are going to be able to fly in for that event, so that will give me one more thing to look forward to. In the meantime, I need to get photos and stories gathered for the New Hampshire Public Radio event. Working on that will help me move forward one baby step at a time.