So today has been pretty… different.
I was hanging out in the kitchen with my dad and my brother when this lady appeared in front of our house. We watched her from the window as she talked with Solomon, my brother-in-law, who was on the front deck at the time.
“Who is that?” dad asked.
“I’m not sure… Maybe one of mom’s clients?” I offered.
“Yeah, maybe…” dad nodded.
We continued to observe as Solomon appeared to be handling the situation. The woman appeared to be quite anxious and shifty… About a minute of watching her, and we started to wonder what was really going on. We were about to go out and learn who she was when she turned and trotted out of sight and Solomon came into the house, totally wide-eyed.
“Jerry next-door has been dead for a couple days,” Solomon put blunty.
“What?!”
“Yeah,” he said. “That lady is a client of his. He was supposed to go to her house and shoe her horses about four days ago, but he never showed up. She came to find out what was up, and she found him in the kitchen… She thinks he’s been dead a whole week.”
Jerry was a grumpy 60-something old man who lived alone with his two horses, a few cats, and a recently attained terrier puppy. Divorced about five years ago… Jerry wasn’t exactly a man I ever wanted to get to know. Mom, God bless her heart, was always willing to go to his house and talk to him. Sometimes, she’d take him food or just go over there to offer friendly conversation. She liked him, but I never really saw why. He was a definite grouch.
Police arrived, coroners arrived, and a vetinary hospital truck arrived to check on the animals that hadn’t been attended to. One of his horses is currently away, so his other horse was the only one that hadn’t been cared for. Very much dehydrated, she was in need of medical care. So we loaded her into our trailer and took her to nearest horse hospital, where she is currently being rehabilitated.
Amazing how life works… I feel like I saw Jerry driving in his farrier truck just a couple days ago… Time seems to disappear when you recall someone you never knew.
So… Goodbye, Jerry. I wish I had known how to talk to you… I feel awful now that I’ll never learn how. Maybe the next person I meet who’s like you, I’ll have that opportunity to change my perspective and give it another go. Until then, I apologize for not being more willing. Like my mom.
There’s that. The there’s the fact that I’m leaving for Creation on Wednesday morning and basically, all preparations have been made in the last four hours. We have tomorrow, too, but it’s going to be a little hard because I have a dental appointment that will last… hours…
We have a small group going this year. A total eight or so people. Very, very small. Still, there’s a lot that needs to be taken care of.
Pray for good organization skills.
In the meantime, would anyone like to volunteer to take over my blogging for the days I am gone? Wednesday, June 23rd through Saturday, June 26th. You can email me if you’re interested. I would just hate to see a day where my blog wasn’t updated. That’s just not exciting.
Hope your day has been better than mine. Just as interesting, but in a better mood.
