For most folks, no news is good news; for the press, good news is not news.
— Gloria Borger
Have you ever been watching a movie in the theater when some technological glitch crashes the film and you have to come back to view it another day? Well, that kind of happened in real life. Well, realer life.
My brother was supposed to be gone Thursday morning, but instead didn’t have to leave until Saturday. Talk about anti-climactic.
Now, I’m certainly happy that he got to spend another two days with us; we continued our streak of goofing off which has kept me from really having to start working. Or studying for the GRE. Or spending hours in the basement writing.
But it’s definitely odd to have all that sorrow stalled for another two days.
However, a similar thing happened when I was younger. My first dog was a beautiful half-German shepherd, half-wolf (she bit me on accident once and I have since had a weird inclination to howl on full moons). But as she got older, she got arthritis and we had to put her down.
So on the day my dad was going to take her to the vet, I spent the majority of the morning crying and crying, hugging her fur and telling her how much I loved her. And when my dad drove off, I had to say goodbye to her for the final time.
Until he brought her back thirty minutes later saying the vet couldn’t do it that day.
So instead of just one roundhouse to the jaw, it was followed by an uppercut to the stomach twenty-four hours late. A most unpleasant experience to say the least.
Fortunately, with my brother: A) We’re not putting him down, B) We found out he had an extra two days before we said our goodbyes, and C) He’s never bitten me…well, at least not to the point where blood was drawn.
But now, earlier this morning, I did have to say goodbye. And it sucks. But at least it was blunted from earlier.
However, to find the silver lining, I’m just glad he didn’t attempt the impractical joke he had originally intended—i.e. he was going to have us all say our final goodbyes, be driven to the airport, then turn around and come back to surprise us with an extra two days.
Because if he had done that, I definitely would have bitten him. And I would have drawn blood.
Finally,
jdt