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Absence
How is it that we completely miss the absence of someone we see regularly?
A person whose presence revolves around ours daily on the periphery. We might first notice that the neighbor’s wife has been mowing the lawn recently when the husband (who owns a lawn care business) usually takes care of that. We might wonder aloud in our home if the husband is away on business or traveling with family or friends without his family. We might then notice that the 12-year-old son, usually boisterous and talkative, seems oddly muted and solitary. He speaks when spoken to, but is not his usual gregarious self. His younger sister spends lots of time indoors now.
During the partial eclipse in October 2023, the wife, son, and daughter come outside to observe in the cul de sac, but the husband is not there. We chat, laugh a bit, ooh and ahh at the celestial magic, and then return to the safety of our homes.
We discuss again among ourselves the last time we may have seen the husband. None of us can pinpoint when that was. We nervously joke that maybe what we thought was a work trip or vacation is actually a marital separation. Food for thought, but we return to our daily routines.
New Year’s Eve comes around and we meet our neighbors in the cul de sac with our drinks of choice to watch the illegal fireworks our other neighbors inevitably pop off. Once again, it is the…
