But, Marilla, I'm not old! A life story told with the help of images and "You See, I See"

What you see

• a little piece of particle art I created in 2010 on a website long lost.

What I see

I see me at my favorite coffee shop

• enjoying the best decaf cappuccino
• browsing my images available to me via my cell
• receiving a text message

I see words

• blotting out my browsing
• containing news
• not unexpected words
• certainly dreaded words
• I wasn't sure of ever receiving these words. I wasn't sure I would be included. Families don't always remember friends long lost.

I no longer see the coffee shop

I see Texas

• Two Mile Bridge
• Lake Tawakoni
• a campground
• I see I still haven't rescued the pictures from this time zone off of an old drive
• (I hunted down two photos)

I see a lady

• shepherding me through tent camping in Texas for five flooded, hot months. (Yes. In Texas, we air condtion our tents.)
• mothering me through several rough transitions.

I see a friend

• sharing hours and hours and days and months and years of "crazy talk" planning with me.
• helping me keep hope alive as I moved on and on and finally to New York, six years layer.
• doing everything within her power to help Hive account@mitchmiester and I succeed.
• being a huge part of how we got to the "easy" life we have now.

I see a coach

• willing to call my hand when I was behaving badly
• helping me understand aging (thus the title!)
• teaching me to keep moving through and around people who only see your inability
• introducing us, ever so slightly and briefly, to the knowledge of someone who would rock our world 10 years later -- in really good ways

I See Texas

• I hear old people singing old hymns.
• I see a large gathering of her children and grandchildren. Family I have prayed for through the years just as she prays for mine.
• I hear the guitars.
• I hear the country songs.
• I see her laughing and clapping after Hive account@mitchmiester sang me a love song, and then calling out, "and then what happens?" And everyone laughs at our expense.
• I see a Texas Thanksgiving

I see a friend

• I thought I might get to see once more.
• I should have called more often.

I see a friend meeting her maker and running with the angels.

I see this is our fourth friend in the past 10 years to die between the dates of July 3rd and 5th. All of them dramatically changed who we are and how we live.

I see it is time to tell you Shabbat Shalom

What about you? When you look through the window shutters of my words, what do you see?