The 4th of July & the Worst Thing

Yvette and I went for a movie date. It has been too long but no real romance that I know she likes watching we’re being released. She won’t see the horror and weird films I watch. Materialists was the movie. I actually suggested it. I’ve been keep my eyes peeled for a movie we can go see together. As far as romantic movies go, I liked it. Great cast. It really focused on how absurd current dating expectations have reached with online dating and match makers. I guess people just don’t meet anymore. What a terrifying aspect. I’m so glad I’m spoken for and that Yvette and I met the good old fashion way.

I really can’t say the day was a good day. A child was born into this world and taken only 10 hours later. I met this child. Touched this child. It wasn’t fair. He was a beautiful little baby and should have lived a blessed life with his great parents. The last 3 days really having me questioning my faith. What a cruel god we live under.

It’s hard for me to express my feelings. I’ve never had a child. I can’t imagine the pain the parents must feel. Carrying the child all the way to birth only to have him taken less than 10 hours. Does that time with him make the loss that much harder? Do you cherish the little time? I just don’t know. I was so sad all day.

Sunday I slept in and when I woke up Yvette needed a nap. She had had trouble sleeping and decided to get up and clean. It was a pretty mellow morning. We met my mother, brother and nephews out for lunch. It was an adventure. We were on the patio, which was hot, and the boys were not behaving at all. I mean, AT ALL. My father would have busted my ass if I’d behaved like that out in public. Different times. It also took us an hour before the food finally arrived. Only after I went and asked the manager to check on the order because a table that arrived much later than us were served their food. Magically our food arrived but not from the hands of our waitress, who was oddly not present. The food itself was fantastic. The experience was a mess. Oh well, we still had fun.

It was a short week with the 4th of July. It was a busy week. It was also a very cool week. Husky temps in the 70s??? What the fuck!! We had some unseasonable rain to boot. Over an inch. My French drain I installed by the fence seemed to have worked. I think I might need two. It’s a start. I drove around and enjoyed the weather.

The week was not only cloudy but also clouded with sadness. The looming funeral of a baby that only graced us for 8 hours. Heartbreaking. The plans were divided between family.

Thursday was just a half day but the funeral was at 10 so I went in for an hour to help out. Good thing that I did. We were short and suddenly housing realized Friday was the 4th and business would be closed around town. What if an AC went out and we don’t have enough refrigerant!! I took care of that.

After work I went home and changed and Teegan and I went to the funeral in the rain. How fitting. The service was sad and catholic. Not truly my cup of tea for personal reasons but otherwise it was good. Again, sad. Everyone held it together as best that they could.

After the ceremony it was off to the graveside service. I dropped Teegan off and headed that way. We had your typical Hollywood funeral with rain and all. It was by far the safest part. Seeing that little bitty casket and the flower arrangement with the blue Teddy Bear. It’s so cruel.

After the gravesite it was off to a family luncheon Yvette and us really set this up and we were worried it wouldn’t be enough. In the end, everything worked out. Yvette, Lola and I didn’t eat just to make sure the food was enough. A small sacrifice.

Once everything was cleaned and everyone was gone we realized we were famished. We wanted pizza. We tried three locations before we were able to satisfy that need. It seemed some local business was closing early on the 2rd. Who knew!! Oh well, lunch was what we needed. I had a beer. I needed that just as well.

After late lunch I took Yvette’s car to have the tires checked. All was good. I distracted myself a little with some sheep. Went to my mother’s. We went and bought food for dinner. I cooked and we had a nice quiet time. Yvette’s parents came over for a little while. We were all so fucking tired.

Friday morning started off wild. We all were awoken by loud thunder and the sound of our emergency alerts notifying us of flashing flooding. It wasn’t until we all got out of bed an hour later did we realize just how serious the flooding was. The north side of town had reported cases of 10+ inches of rain. Houses floated off foundations. Fire trucks completely submerged. Areas I have never seen underwater were underwater. The pictures and video coming in over social media were terrifying and amazing.

Yvette and the kids were heading o Dallas to drop off Teegan at the airport so they were worried because that was the general direction they needed to travel. I called my friend Paul the Electrician who lived north of town and was on campus call. I knew he had to commute that that stretch. He said the roads outside of town were passable. A few areas where the water was over the road about 2-3 inches. The real trouble was getting in and out of town, you had to detour. This gave Yvette some confidence, which she needed.

4th of July movie. I watched “28 Days Later” twenty-three years ago. Great film. Reenergized the Zombie horror franchise forever, even though there isn’t a single zombie in the film. In the film there are “infected”. A man made viral outbreak. Damn good film and damn scary. Here we are years later and the same writing/directing due are back for a follow up film set 28 Years Later. The movie was really good and I’m sure it wasn’t what many theater attendees were expecting. Much more family drama and coming of age. I really liked it. The group of 7 guys drinking down the aisle from me were also rather comical. First time at the movies where a group of people were actively getting drunk. Haha

After the movie I made a return for Yvette, grabbed some gas and obtained a hotdog for a late lunch. What is the 4th of July without at least one hotdog. It couldn’t be helped. I did a little grocery shopping, went and visited my mother and pretty much did nothing else but watch Independence Day on Amazon. What a damn fine movie that has aged like a fine wine. It baffles the mind that it is now almost 30 years ago when I saw this movie in a crowed theater with my family. It is a cornerstone in my movie experiences as a child. I never would have thought that I would be watching it every year for the rest of my life. Which I have, BTW.