The Simplicity of the Day

It began as the light crept through the louvers on the shutter leaving little lines across the wall and my eyes.  One last snuggle into the blanket and I was awake -- a stretch and I was up.  Tea and toast -- my favorite breakfast -- brought back memories of a little kitchen with a little table and chairs.  She was pouring canned milk into the half cup of tea and slathering the bread with "real" butter.  A moment of missing her and I am back to today.

Pink and white flannel -- soon to be winter pajamas in summer.  Cutting, stitching, dreaming of pink buttons but accepting sticky tape instead.  An anchor?  Maybe an initial?  Whatever it will be, it will be navy.

A drive north, my mind jumping from one thing to another -- trying to keep the fears at bay, the sadness in its little box where I keep it.  How did that car get upside down on a side street?  The things you see on an ordinary afternoon! The curls, the puzzles, the first ever chocolate chip cookie -- smiling, sparkling eyes as she looks at mother for approval.     The perfection, the innocence -- miss her even before I leave.

Home again, home again -- dinner, a show -- the sun sinks slowly, the light fading from the behind the louvers -- the sleepiness settles in, the promise of a new day tomorrow with hopes of another simple day.