Closing This Chapter

I am sitting on the patio in my backyard. It's humid but breezy. The morning clouds are preventing the sun from assaulting me as it rises over the wisteria covered pergola. I am feeling a little melancholy. But really all I can think about is how lucky I am to have people in my life who love me, support me and make me laugh.

Make no mistake, those people could not have given me so much had I not LET them into my heart.

The drama is over. With an almost inaudible, "Here's your key," she walked out the door, got into a cab and headed for a "cheap motel" somewhere here in town.

We waited a while before going into her bedroom and when we did we found the unwanted remnants she had left behind: faded pink pillows; dirty sheets; green pillow cases; electronic cords; two purses, a box of envelopes; a dead, moulting fern; and a litter box, water dish and feeding dish for the cat she took to the animal shelter yesterday morning. Dust and cat hair hung from the ceiling fan in long clumps. Dust on the tables so thick you can write a note in it. Piles of cat hair all over the floor and a pool of thick cat pee lay drying at the foot of the her bed. And the sickening sweet smell of dirt, dust, cigarette smoke mixed with the body odor of a person who is clearly not well. Weeks of neglect. It is a room once occupied by someone whose cognizance of her surroundings is as remote as she is. I felt disgust and deep sadness all at once.

We started purging the obvious, stripping the bed, stuffing the linens, pillows, purses and dead fern in the trash bin to be emptied this morning. I opened the window, even though it was still in the low 90's outside. I sprayed the bed and rug heavily with disinfectant spray, pulled the large clumps of dust and cat hair off the ceiling fan and turned it on to circulate the air in the room, then we walked out of the room closing the door behind us.

This morning, I sprayed the room heavily again with Febreeze spray and I will tackle the cleaning this afternoon.

Until then, I will bask in the beauty of the morning.