King Of Marion

I spent Saturday morning at the hospital with my girlfriend, Gretchen. She has had some back issues, and her doctor recommended surgery.

It was so quick! We got there at five-thirty. The only other cars on the road in Marion were cops and hunters. She was done and we were sitting at a table outside at Starbucks on Union by noon. I had no idea they could turn things around so fast.

Gretchen works in the same operating room where she had surgery, so she was given the total rock star treatment. It was pretty much an all hands day since they were doing some sort of big inventory project, so there was a stream of visitors and well-wishers giving her high fives and coming by to check on her before surgery.

Gretchen is sober there days, after living an earlier life that could be modestly described as exciting. I'd never been around her when she under the influence of anything more powerful than coffee. What did I find out? That Gretchen gets chatty after she's had a heroic dose of painkillers. And very easy to get along with. Still, I like my sober non-drugged girlfriend. I guess it works for her too, since she's taking more ibuprofen than anything else despite getting some fairly serious drugs to deal with any post-surgery pain.

"It's fine as long as I lay on the couch and stay still," she says, "it's just when I move I feel like I've been shanked."

***

John spent the night with his cousin Friday night so he wouldn't have to get up in the pre-dawn cold and hang out at the hospital all day. He had a fine time. After I went to pick him up we ran a few errands, including a stop at Walgreen's.

"Let's get Gretchen a card," he said, "it'll make her feel better."

Such consideration! And totally unprompted, too. I was proud.

***

Sometimes in life you're faced with a bargain. A literal, cheaper-than-it-should-be bargain. Maybe the circumstances of the bargain make you pause. But you do it anyway.

Case in point: Sonya sent me a text message a couple of weeks ago, letting me know that her girlfriend had sold her truck and asking if I might be interested in buying the bed cover. She concluded "if it fits, and if that wouldn't be too weird."

I love my new truck, but the MPGs could certainly be better. I've heard bed covers help with that.

It is weird, a little. But she didn't want much money for it. And I'd been thinking about getting one anyway.

So I went to their house last night to get John and I put the bed cover on my truck. It fit perfectly.

Some things are meant to be, possibly.