Shirley can be a firecracker at times but she's usually a beautiful woman who can't help showing how much she loves someone. She's a grandma now and loves her new role. She went north with our son-in-law for the weekend so we didn't get a chance tosee her though we did talk on the phone.
Glenda and I went to her sister's for the holiday. Brother-in-law John and I talked the other day and since we had no plans we decided to get together for burgers and a movie.
For some reason, fatigue did a number on me even before we left the house. When we got to John's he sat on one end of the couch and I took the other. The women sat in the kitchen talking while we watched the Dadgers lose to the Padres. I should say that John and I slept while the Dodgers lost to the Padres.
No sooner did I sit down than I was checking my eyelids for holes. Now and then I would wake up and look over at John. His head was back on the couch and he was snoring like a buzz saw. It's a wonder I could sleep, he was snoring so danged loud.
Good times.
On the 90 minute drive home, Glenda said she hoped to see some fireworks. It wasn't quite dark yet so I said maybe we would see some on the way. It seemed no one was in the mood to celebrate because we did not see one show until we were almost home.
Sanderson Road is a six mile long short cut over some hills north of San Jacinto. It's a winding road and when you reach the top you can see the whole valley below. Quite a view to us city slickers used to seeing smog and traffic instead.
By the time we reached Sanderson, it was dark and the drive through the hills was illuminated only by the full moon's glow.
As we reached the crest of the hill overlooking the valley, a fireworks show started in the vicinity of home. Fireworks are great up close but from the crest of a hill they are really something. They looked like small lights flashing in the distance.
The colors were bright and their shapes were kaleidoscopic above the city lights below us. The timing could not have been better. It seemed they waited for us to get there to start and Glenda loved it.
The drive toward home is an easy one and I began turning and winding my way toward what I hoped was the street the show was taking place. I figured it was a park or something where we could stop and watch. The booms got louder as we got closer and Glenda got excited because we were getting close enough now that she had to look up to see the flares.
She could see the show from her side the entire time.
People were parked in all the shopping centers along State Street. Finally I decided to just pull into a parking lot like everyone else. Glenda said we didn't have to.
"Yeah we do," I told her as I pulled into a space. She just sat there looking through the front window so I got out and told her to come sit in back with me.
Once we sat on the tail gate of the truck she leaned back on me to watch the show. We were almost directly below them and we could smell the smoke and feel the booms of the explosions. Glenda loved it.
She leaned back on me to get a good view, oohing and aahing. She had a big smile on and I could tell she was glad we pulled in.
I thought to myself that chairs would have been a good idea but then it occurred to me that if we had chairs then Glenda would not have leaned against me like this.
Glenda has been through so much on this journey. She told me the other day that she has not had a real good cry yet over our cancer situation though she does cry a little now and then. Looking at her face now made me glad that she was able to forget things while she watched the fireworks.
She was enjoying the show and I was enjoying her. And cancer was far, far away.
