There are times in a fellow's life that can become extremely complicated. Difficult, rough and almost terrorizing in some aspects, which is usually followed by a drastic change, a change so drastic that it can affect one’s whole aspect of thinking and livelihood.It’s no secret how close I am to my mother, The Arizona Babe and happy that Rex Pater Homo is my father, but almost five years ago it was kind of a different story when they decided to move away from the area they raised all five us children, myself, Naomi, Louie, Benjy and Joey.
My parents are at that age that we all get to eventually, hopefully, if we play our cards right and that’s “retirement.” But The Arizona Babe isn’t really retired; nope! She still teaches in the Golden Valley of Happiness, while Rex Pater Homo just enjoys life, as free as a bird.
A few years back after The Arizona Babe called it quits at her regular job as a special education teacher in the western suburbs of
Who can disagree? I’ve lived through many of those winters as well, most notably, 1967, 1979 and 1999 and in that order! Believe me, it’s no picnic trying to drive on snow and ice that cover terribly bad potholed roads. There have been a few times I did consider moving elsewhere, because even though I love the
Well, both Arizona Babe & Rex Pater Homo decided to do something different; they decided to rent an apartment and become temporary snowbirds in the Golden Valley of Happiness. They did it twice, making the 2,000 mile trek two years in a row by car before they decided to live there permanently.
When they told us the news of their decision, I along with my brothers Benjy & Joey were devastated, more so, since it was a shock to our systems. Only my brother Louie encouraged them. As for Naomi, I never did find out what her response was; frankly I didn’t care.
The move was difficult for them, as witnessed by myself and what my mother, The Arizona Babe said. There was a lot of scrambling, a lot of throwing away of things, a lot of donations and a lot of things that I had to carry around in my car that summer because I was unable to bring it into my apartment, due to the objections of my roommates, with the exception of furniture.
Most of all there was a lot of hard feelings between us, particularly between me and my brother Benjy. Benjy had been warned about the impending situation and did nothing to help himself out, specifically to pack his things up like his valuable vinyl records and cassettes that were being thrown out by a contractor my parents hired; the contractors instructions to via my parents; throw everything away, junk or non-junk.
Little did I know this when I had to come in and move some of my belongings that I had stored in their basement for so many years. I eventually sold my records since I had no room in my car and they looked as if they were going to melt into one big vinyl pile anyway.
My parents did sell their house to a fairly young couple and off they moved to the Golden Valley of Happiness. The rest of us, (with the exception of Louie), were in a deep state of sadness as if we had lost our beacon of hope. And we did temporarily.
Secretly, we pass by the house in the midnight hour, hoping to see the old happy ghosts we once played, ate and slept with. Sometimes we do and sometimes we don't. We wonder at times if it's all a mirage.
Yet we all recovered. My parents seem happier than ever and we as their grown children have gone onto bigger and better things.
The Arizona Diamondbacks won baseball’s World Series that year.
Things happen for a reason.
In seven days, let happiness begin!
