TheBanyanTree: Auld Lang Syne

[Margaret R. Kramer]

What have I done in the last decade?

Ray and I completely defied safety and spent New Year’s Eve 1999 in a hotel
in downtown St Paul.  As we watched on TV, we saw that Y2K didn’t mean a
thing and the world kept on spinning.

I remember we went out to dinner at Gallivan’s, which isn’t there anymore.
I think it closed this year.  We walked through Rice Park and looked at ice
sculptures which were left over from the previous week’s millennium New Year
celebration.  It was held early because of Y2K fears.  New Year’s Eve was a
relatively warm night and we didn’t have any snow.

I was married on November 9, 2006.  We had lived together since 1998.  I
gained five stepchildren, 11 step-grandchildren, and five step-great
grandchildren.

My husband died on February 25, 2008.  He had colitis which morphed into a
massive infection throughout his body.  He ultimately died from pneumonia.

I gained a boyfriend in 2008.  His wife had died from colon cancer on
January 3, 2008.  We met in grief group at the end of February 2008.  We
were probably the only people ever to attend grief group who spent much of
their time flirting.  Sick.  Just sick.

I changed jobs in 2004.

I lost my job on October 7, 2009.

But I became employed again on December 17, 2009.  More money.  Closer to
home.

After a long struggle, we sold our house in 2006.  Before it finally sold,
we had replaced the hot water heater, the carpet, the furnace, and other
upgrades.  It has since been foreclosed and now sits empty.

We bought our current house on April 10, 2006.  It got a new roof and
gutters last summer.  Ray replaced the ladder in our two story garage with a
staircase he built himself.  Now it’s easy to go up to the second floor and
down again.

Ray’s divorce became final on April 10, 2006.  He finalized his divorce on a
conference call while we were closing on the house.

My son and grandsons moved in with me on April 21, 2008.  It’s been great
having them here, but after almost two years, I’m ready for them to get
their own place.  This will be a topic of discussion very soon.

I gained one grandson on January 26, 2001.  The other one was born on April
21, 1999.  I always tell him that he has a chance to live in three centuries
if he lives to be over one hundred years old.

We lost two dogs, Saydi and CoCo.  But we gained Axel and Shadow.

Ray euthanized our old cat, Cinnamon.  She was 20 years old when Ray gently
put her to sleep in the fall of 2007.  I still have his cat, September.
Someone had left a box of kittens at Ray’s store.  He called me at work and
asked me if he could bring one home.  Of course, I said yes.  Ray brought
September home from the store in September 2001, hence the name September.

I bought my 2001 Volkswagen Golf in January 2001 and I still drive it
everywhere.  I love that car.

We bought Ray’s flower van (1995 Dodge Caravan) in February 2008, just
before he went into the hospital for the last time.  He had been in a car
accident the week before.  He was sitting at a red light, waiting for it to
turn green, and another car ran through the light, hitting several cars,
they all bounced off of each other, and one slammed into Ray, totaling his
Ford Sable.  Ray was OK, thank goodness, but the accident happened on the
coldest day of the winter.  Of course. 

When the insurance adjuster came to our house, Ray talked him into giving
him more money than we probably should have received.  Ray recorded the
conversation, and I have the recorder and the recording in my desk.  If I
play the recording, I’ll start screaming, so I don’t play it.  But it’s
comforting to know that at a click of a button, I can hear Ray’s voice.

I still have the flower van, which we bought for $795 off of craigslist.  It
runs great and I use it as my truck when I have big and heavy things to
carry.  It needs a thermostat and an oil change.  I’m going to take care of
that this week.

I’ve kept Ray’s name on our checking and saving accounts.  I love seeing his
name on our checks and  bank statements.  I love being “joint.”  We’ve
banked at the same bank since Ray moved in with me in 1998.

I quit smoking on July 1, 2001.  It’s the best thing I ever did.

I’ve gained weight, lost weight, gained weight, and lost weight again over
this past decade.

Ray and I traveled to the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, Canada, and
throughout the United States.

We loved the North Shore of Lake Superior and that love has passed on to my
boyfriend.

My boyfriend and I went to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks last
summer.      

I’ve “won” National Novel Writing Month in 2007 and 2009.

I’m a better writer than I was in 2000.  I’m a better photographer than I
was in 2000.

I voted for Barack Obama in 2008.  I voted for Ralph Nader in 2000 and 2004.

I began running/walking in 5K races in 2002.  I usually do four a year.

I read whenever I can.  That will never change.

What will 2010 and the decade that follows bring?

I’d like to see true national health care become a reality.  I’d like to see
the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan end.  I’d like to see the recession end
more quickly than predicted.  People need jobs.  That’s what is going to get
the economy going again.

For me, I want to lose weight, keep working hard, learn new things,
volunteer somewhere, save for my old age, and stay independent.  I’ll be 64
at the end of the next decade.  Will my hair turn gray by that time?

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net
margaret.kramer at polarispublications.com
www.polarispublications.com
www.linkedin.com/in/margaretkramer

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is
softer and more beautiful.  
-Norman Vincent Peale