Dispatches from Midwest, Issue 1

Friday, 28 February: Afternoon

A day before I flew out, my aunt called from Indiana with dire predictions of snow and doom and imminent death if I didn't upgrade to a rental car with four-wheel-drive. And so, the dudes at the Enterprise Desk were able to come up to trumps and upgrade me, after me agreeing to a painful fee and the unstated promise that oh my god of course you won’t die in an icy car crash.

All good and well, except for the fact that apparently, all four-wheel-drives are approximately as big as Optimus Motherfucking Prime. Case in point: my vehicle for the next two weeks is a Nissan Pathfinder.

My usual vehicle is a Toyota Corolla. Yeah, this is gonna be fun.

Friday, 28 February: Evening and Night

After pulling into the parking space in front of Mr. Indiana’s Bloomington townhouse and enduring some gentle ribbing about my rental Optimus Prime (“I know you said you gained some weight, but this is ridiculous!”), I quickly get settled, give a huge hug to Mr. Indiana’s girlfriend, the awesome Anna. Of course she’s awesome! By default, any woman that welcomes her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend into her home with open arms, and understands loyalty and friendship, is awesome! She and I immediately begin to discuss the sinus infection from hell that kept her from grad school for years and bond the CT scans from her horrible sinus illness. It’s the start of an epic friendship.

Over a dinner of veggie burgers and homemade potato chips (oh my god, Mr. Indiana, why did I ever leave you) and increasing amounts of wine being consumed, I catch up with them both and tease little Wesley, who’s not so little anymore, and marvel at how so many years can pass and never take away the feeling of Home.

For many reasons, Anna is great for Wesley. She’s a librarian, and has instated family storytime every night. Bless this woman's heart, she doesn't hesitate for a second to include me in this ritual. This gives me a chance to cuddle up with Wesley and deliver an exuberant and slightly drunken narration of Dragons Love Tacos as Anna snaps lots of photos and immediately post them. And Mr. Indiana and  I are stricken momentarily speechless with laughter by our old friend Dea’s response on Facebook:

“Is this…real life?”

 Dea was/is an old comrade of ours.  She KNOWS the skeletons in our closet, and her memory is a long one. She is a fellow survivor of our college years, a witness to the Catastrophic Breakup of 2006...she caught the fallout, along with many of our friends. And so I can and do laugh with love, and relief, and gratitude, that I can be here now, enjoying this time, reveling in relationships new and old, taking pride in--and rejoicing in gratitude for--my freakish ability to forgive and be forgiven, and learn, and thrive. 

It's a perfect first evening Back Home in Indiana.