Pink Elephants

Okay, where were we.  Oh yes, I was having a fit.  I am finished now. 
 

All I can say is, what a summer.  Whew!  To put it plainly, Beloved’s company went under.  So sad.  I knew it was my job to be strong for Beloved and the boys, and as soon as they were able to drag me out from under the covers, I was.        
          

 They say when crisis hits, a person’s true    character is revealed and I think that is true.  I coolly appraised our situation, realized Beloved was not sufficiently sympathetic to my trauma probably needed some quiet time to re-group, so the boys and I bolted to Florida and into the caring arms of my sister.  It was a God-send!  My sister put cool compresses on my head, listened to my story  (over and over and over) and brought me endless cups of tea.  What she didn’t do, and I don’t mean to be fussy, is to allow me to drown my sorrows in alcohol.  Somehow in the midst of my ordeal I had forgotten she is a recovering alcoholic.  Which I whole-heartedly support!  I guess I didn’t realize she took it so…seriously.  I (obviously!) did not expect pre-dinner cocktails, but really, not even a measly little glass of (proven to be healthful) dinner wine?  I mean I get it…for sure…it’s just that I was going through a CRISIS!  I wondered idly how my (imbibing) brother was doing in San Antonio.  But frankly, as sweet as he is, he would probably side with Beloved, give me no cool compresses and tell me to get my worthless self home to my husband. 

So there we were, in Florida, in July, stone cold sober. 

Then I met Harold, my sister’s neighbor.  We spent many a pleasant evening in his backyard discussing life.  He was darling man and very active considering that breathing apparatus he had to lug around.  Harold had some startling right wing ideas about the world, but I forgave him, and not just because he was generous with his gin!  He thought my sister’s “new age-y” sobriety slightly ridiculous.  “Ooh, so we’re all alcoholics now.  It’s just showing off that’s what it is!  In my day you weren’t an ‘alcoholic’ until you saw the Pink Elephants!!”  Well, he did have a point, and as I re-filled my coffee cup with gin & tonic, I told him so.     
 

It was all going so well, and I felt the trip was really doing me some good when a surprising thing happened.  I was laying on my usual spot on the sofa, drinking iced tea, yelling at the boys to stop bugging me to take them to the beach (it was HOT for God’s sake) when suddenly a shadow loomed above me.  I adopted my usual pained expression thinking it was my sister ready with a cool compress.  What a surprise to realize it was my brother-in-law home in the middle of the day (inappropriate if you ask me)!  He wanted to know if I was "quite comfortable" to which I replied I was.  He said he was delighted (I did not like his tone when he said that) then he asked how long it usually took for me to get over my "general malaise."  Well, I must say, it was rather a shock to realize the little value some people place on family.  I decided right then and there that the boys and I would not put up with that sort of attitude so, in a week or two, we packed right up and left for home.   

Comments

[zack9900]

I miss you soooo bad!!!!

[Hudson]

So glad you are back in action and back home!

[EDNOS]

Hey I'm with ya - what's Florida in the summer without G&T's! I admire your resourcefulness sister. Hang in there.

[Theresa]

I fled to San Francisco to stay with my brother. Selling my house nearly killed me. Not sure I'm over it yet. Flew back to work on marriage in August...so no, I don't have a problem with you being gone for three months...sometimes a girl just has got to get away.

[Karena]

Yay, I have missed you so much!! Back just in time for another....

New Giveaway from the French Basketeer and you will love it!

Karena
Art by Karena

[angelica]

What a about all the wonders your trip to LA did for ya? Don't you have any thing to say about OUR time together? I had to listen to all that talk about the damn house staging! I WAS the one that needed the cold compresses. :)

[Kathi]

Knowing the characters that you refer to in "Pink Elephants", I find this one even more hysterical! I can just picture your sisters husband glaring down at you - you gotta love him!

[belle on heels]

so glad you are back!

[Maryam in Marrakech]

So very sorry about your husband's company. Hope things are on the upswing. Thinking of you in Marrakech.