Ode to the Deceased. (Negativity alert.)

*I miss you when I'm sad
But most of all, I miss you when I'm happy*

We were making shakes today. Looking for the blender took me about 10 minutes, you know our shelves. Melinda found it sitting casually next to the box of rice, and I said without thinking, "There it is!... cunningly disguised as a blender!" and instantly thought about how often Mike said that. I got overwhelmed with nostalgia and I had to sit for awhile.

Lately we've uncovered goldmines of numerous Recycle shops that had the cheapest clothing you could possibly imagine... 3 shirts for 100 yen and so on. After such escapades me and Keren would often parade in front of the mirror with our new skimpy shirts or flashy belts, and inevitably one of us would slip out, "Ooooh, this is so nice, let's go show Aicha...oh, bugger."

It's strange to not to have to wash nato-y hands and reluctantly make my bed neatly to make room for two rather wild children who would scream like sirens whenever Zazoo would land on their pillows. Even stranger it is to open the living room door and not have it collide with Keithy, sprawled on the floor reading a book or hiding from Alysha during a hide-and-seek game.

Now, the only drumming sounds we hear are someone knocking on our door. When I go up to the kitchen for my nightly glass of whatever-I-can-find-that's-not-simply-water, the only thing that greets me is darkness and the occasional creepy-crawly. No more midnight oil cakes or scones for a late night snack- although we did get a waffle maker. I couldn't help thinking of how much K and A would enjoy them as I made them the other day for breakfast. we finally take the initiative and keep the kitchen clean now, though, Aichan: that may be the only good thing about you leaving. hehe

It's weird to take out my laundry and not have to squeeze my bulk past shelves and drums; that corridor's almost completely clear now.

Sniff....no one urges me to keep singing anymore. My humor doesn't earn chuckles anymore, either: only faces slightly wreathed in disbelief (probably at my stupidity). And worst of all, I now have no excuse to watch Pollyanna. Sniff sniff.

We adopted your large set of blue drawers... and for some reason we didn't Take the labels off. Whenever I see the label, "Mike shirts- think comfy" a get a queer ache... somewhere around here. *waves hand vaguely over left breast*

I guess...that means I miss you.
I stay true to my claim that moving here with you guys was probably the best decision we could ever make. The past 3 years just don't compare to the past 4 months.

I love you.