It's been a long time since we (the family) has had to tell anyone the news of Kenny's death. After all, it happened 8months ago. Well, today was one of those days. My youngest son, Vincent and I went to Cal Wok, a local eatery. It was one of the places we got a lot of take out from; most of the time Kenny would call in the order and go pick it up.
I remember one day Kenny said "the girl who took my order knew who I was"- it got to the point that one of workers recognized his voice and the almost identical order. Anyway, today we decided to eat inside. The waitress came over, and looking at Vincent said "I haven't seen you're brother in awhile"...then Vincent, in his most gentle of manners said "Uh yea, about that...he died". The girl looked shocked, then gave me a glance and I nodded my head. Naturally then she apologized, I was wiping tears the rest of the time we were there. When we were done eating she came over and said she was taking care of the bill. With tears in her eyes she said Kenny was one of her regulars and that she knew his voice and his order, and though she didn't "really" know him she was sorry to hear he is gone.
After we got home, I cried myself to sleep on Kenny's pillow. Next time we get food from Cal Wok I'm going to order the meatball sandwich- that was Kenny's most common order. For months I avoided that place because it was one of those places we went to together, like the $ Tree or Savemart. Kenny and I ran a lot of typical errands together, it gave us a time to talk about whatever and getting boring necessities was much more fun with Kenny.
~~ Random Topic~~
The Candy Pot--]
Years ago mi mama (my mom, as I call her) bought me a traditional clay Mexican pot with the single handle on each side and the lid that comes off the top. When she gave it to me, I was warned not to use it to cook in or hold food- as it is not safe. So I started to store candy in it after Halloween one year. The boys discovered the candy and before I knew it the candy was gone. Every once in awhile I'd put some more in it, and that too would get eaten.
The thing about my boys is that they aren't big snackers; they don't eat chips or crackers or cookies (unless they're homemade) so I started to keep candy in the pot on a regular basis. It eventually became known as the candy pot and the boys' friends knew to look in it to find treats whenever they came over to the house. It often got taken off the table and into Kenny's room when friends were over. Now, candy can get to be expensive so when we started putting candy in it all the time we would go to the $ Tree to buy candy. It was one of the regular things I did with Kenny. He liked bit-o-honey, twix and werther's originals. Those were the standards- and razzles for Vincent, other than that it would just depend on what we could find. It was fun, picking out candy and then filling up the pot again.
The pot was empty for quite awhile after Kenny died, but now I keep it going like we use to. It's something I do on my own most of the time now, it took awhile before I could go to the $ Tree. I cried the first few times I went--I left without buying anything the first time-I was horribly embarrassed. It was awful! I'm ok with it now, and I always look for twix or bit-o-honey to put in the candy pot--they still get eaten...
Element of the day (day 10)
#18) Ar-Argon (gas)
Discovered in 1894 by Lord Rayleigh and Sir William Ramsay, England.
A colorless, odorless gas. Making up nearly 1% of our atmosphere. Used inside light-bulbs, in producing special metals (titanium) and in welding. Used in lasers.
Obtained from liquefying air. There are no argon-bearing minerals.
Light-bulbs, eh?? So somehow, the light-bulb cover on Kenny's ceiling was broken. No doubt from something being thrown... Anyhow, it never got replaced. For awhile Kenny had a lamp that he wasn't using much. It was shortly after he had gone into his 'I want everything black' stage so I bought him a black light-bulb on impulse. It was a big hit, but the lamp wasn't so Kenny decided to put it on the main light plate in his room. He has one white bulb and one black. That was before the swirly energy efficient bulbs. First, the white bulb went out and we replaced it with a swirly energy efficient bulb-then the black went out. I was concerned I wouldn't find a black energy efficient bulb, but I did--gotta love Target! Kenny was very excited I found a black swirly bulb to match the white, I think he jumped off his bed with joy and immediately it was replaced. Those are the light-bulbs currently in his room and will always remain.
Until tomorrow....
No comments:
Post a Comment