It’s Just Us Again

We had to get up early yesterday morning, something I never like doing. And especially not for the reason we were up. We had to take our daughter Tiffany to the airport in Daytona Beach so she could catch a flight home to Arizona.

When we were fulltime RVers and would come to visit, I used to tell Tiffany that leaving was always the hardest part. She understands that now because it was hard for her to leave, too. But she’s got a family at home, a loving husband and four kids who really missed their mom. There were a lot of hugs and kisses at the airport and a few tears were shed before she left us to go through the gate for the TSA inspection.

Tiffany says she can’t wait to come back again but she plans to do it in the winter the next time around. Though she lives in Arizona, her home is in Show Low, in the White Mountains, where they have four seasons and a lot of snow some winters. She said the hot, humid weather here in Florida made her feel like she was melting. That’s okay, kid, you come back anytime you want and we’ll be welcoming you with open arms.

But for now it’s just the two of us again, and that’s fine. We love being together.

It was great to have son Travis and daughter Tiffany here, along with daughter-in-law Geli. We talked about a lot of things and had a lot of laughs. Travis recalled one incident from his childhood that he said scarred him for life. I have had a beard all of my adult life except for one time when I shaved it off on a whim. I was a single dad at the time, and my son was only 9 years old. He got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, saw me, and totally freaked out, screaming, “Dad, there’s some guy in the house!” I tried to comfort him but all he saw was a stranger coming after him. It took a while to get him calmed down. I started growing the beard back the next day. Not only because I didn’t want to traumatize my kid anymore, but also because when you’ve got a face like this, you owe it to society to keep as much of it covered up as you possibly can. It’s the same reason I never go around shirtless. Nobody needs to be subjected to that much pasty white flesh.

After we left the airport, we went to the VA clinic in Daytona Beach so I could get my second shingles shot. Terry and I got our first ones a month ago at Walgreens and they cost $198 apiece. On a visit to the VA for my routine checkup a week or so later, I was asked if I wanted a shingles shot and I told them I already had gotten the first of the two doses required. The nurse told me they are free for veterans and to come back there for the second one. I sure wish I would have known that to start with!

There’s a sandwich shop called Big Joe’s Subs on Canal Street in New Smyrna Beach that we have talked about stopping at for a long time. A lot of people have said it’s very good but we never got around to it, so we decided to have lunch there on the way home. Now we’re both kicking our butts because we waited so long. The sandwiches were delicious and they don’t skimp on the meat, cheese, and fixings. We will definitely be going back.

From there, we stopped at Walgreens so Terry could get her second shingles shot, then we came home and didn’t do much the rest of the day. Well, at least I didn’t. I don’t know what Terry did because I parked my portly posterior in my recliner and took an hour-long nap. I needed it.

Today I need to get back to work. Except for a couple of blog posts, I haven’t written anything in over two weeks and I miss it. I’ve already started my next book, Big Lake Shootout, and since it’s too hot outside to do much of anything, that will keep me occupied for the foreseeable future.

Thought For The Day – Remember recess? We old folks still need it.