Just Another Day

 

"Sorry Dad," Che says in the darkness, "I'm just checking to make sure you aren't dead."

She's pinching my big toe to see if I'd dozed off on the sofa or died. 

Waking, rubbing my eyes and grabbing her into a hug, I laugh, "I'm not dead yet!"

Che grabs her phone, wraps herself in a blanket, cuddles beside me, surfs TikTok and wakes up slowly. 

I've been awake since 2 am, and it's rare I dose off, but I did, and Che assumes the worst, only to immediately accept, and celebrate that life as we know it, goes on for another day. 

I marvel at her "take it as it comes" approach to whatever she encounters. 

"Oops, Dad's either asleep or dead," her thought process goes, "I better find out which?"

AND SO SHE DOES!

She's just as pragmatic when I wake. "Oh good! You're alive! Let's cuddle!"

And we do. 

And I feel her skin on mine, listening to her breath, the loveliness of her laughter, and I resolve to always feel as I do now and never forget the love. 

I wonder where the memory goes when I go?

Lately I've come to think I go back to whatever I was before I was born, though I have no idea what that means. 

It makes sense we revert back to energy, which it seems, never dies, so maybe we got the story wrong about what's life after death. 

Energy sounds nice.  

I have so little of it these days. 

It excites me to think that's what I'll become when I die. 

Cleo, the foster puppy, barks and Che and I instantly jump up to take her outside. 

Sarah rushes out of the bedroom at the same time, and we get busy, taking care of business, tending the dogs, getting dressed, making breakfast and sharing our plans. 

It's just another day. 

Thank God!

And tomorrow I hope I get another one because, there's no day but today. 

_________________ 

Thank to so many wonderful friends I am actively engaged in my "Celebration of Life" NOW, rather than later, with Sarah and Che. We are eternally grateful for you.