Lately, I’ve been corresponding with a handler for a Miami locksmith. Over the course of the ten days or so that we have been chatting via email, I have been thinking about Bob. Not the Bob I wrote the post to a few days ago, but another Bob.

Several years ago, I think it must have been 8 or 9, DH were doing quite a bit of traveling. I’m guessing at the time frame, because I clearly remember Diva and Country being present, but not Stuntman. Anyway, we were in St. Louis, I think, and we managed to lock ourselves out of the van. The keys were there in plain view, and it was an incredibly aggravating thing. Now, DH and I tend not to stress about the inevitable. He went to the front desk and asked them to recommend a locksmith, and we settled in to wait for him to arrive. We just hung out and enjoyed the kids and talked, and it was actually a pleasant interlude.

Finally Bob arrived, and he had a bit of difficulty with getting in the van, so he was with us for a while. We were watching him, and he, apparently, was watching us as well. I really wish that I could remember the exact words, but I can’t. I guess the fact that I can’t points to how this was really a serendipitous thing that happened. Anyway, he said something about how we were as a family and as a couple, and that we either seemed to enjoy each other or should continue to enjoy one another. As he was packing up his tools, I commented to him that he should also have a pleasant day, and then enjoy his evening at home with Mrs. Bob. After all, that’s what you say, right? It was then that Bob taught me several things and broke my heart. He told me that he could not do that, because Mrs. Bob was no longer with him. She had died about a year previously.

I had nothing much to say to that, yk? But I realized then that I took for granted that DH would always be with me. And also that people who appear cheerful may actually carry huge amounts of grief. I had forgotten Bob until I started emailing with Ben. But I hope I had not forgotten the lessons I learned the day Bob took me to school.