Living Alone

 So I set my alarm for 5 am today, and awoke out a VERY deep sleep, and then woke Wifey. She had an early flight -- MIA to ATL to DEN. She usually insists on leaving later in the day on trips, but when it involves her BFF events, exceptions are apparently made. So I scared some sleeping dogs, made coffee, and then we were off to MIA.

I dropped her to a LOT of questions. I typically handle all logistics when we travel, and she was asking me if they had her TSA number on her boarding pass (no idea -- she booked the flights) and was the carry on properly identified (no idea -- she picked it from the closet and packed it). After the last question, I kissed her goodbye and reminded me she was a BIG girl and could do this on her own. I kind of half really believe this -- but I guess we'll see. As of last text, she was on the plane and ready to begin her solo journey -- and I will be living alone for 10 days.

And it occurred to me: I have NEVER lived alone, truly. I went from college roommates to moving in with Eric for grad school. Two years later, I switched over to Wifey -- we lived together for 2 years before we married, and we have lived together now closing in on 4 decades.

I surely don't regret much about my life, but wonder what it would have been like to truly live alone. So I get a taste of it for the next week and a half. I guess I'll see...

After my post MIA drop constitutional, I ran into my neighbor Steve and his boy. His son is clerking for a local law firm, graduates college in December, and then is off to teach English in Spain for a year, before returning home to attend law school.

I told Steve I admired that call. Another minor regret: not taking a gap year between college and law school. I could have, of course, but it just seemed I was on a track: graduate in May, party that Summer, and then start law school the next Fall.

After my first year as a lawyer, I knew I didn't really enjoy the profession. I DID enjoy my two semesters teaching English while I was in law school, and one day in 1987 I got a solicitation in the mail -- come to Japan and teach English. The salary was actually higher than what I was earning as a first year associate at the anti semitic firm, and Wifey was all for it.

Our three parents were by then largely independent, still, with the exception of needing help with administrative and financial issues. So I wrote back, to get more information.

Ultimately it never progressed further, and soon enough, D1 was on the way. But I wonder -- how would life have turned out differently, if at all, had I taken that Asian detour.

It's funny -- other than cuisine from China and Thailand, the only Asian country I have real interest in is Japan. And I guess I passed it along: D1 and Joey honeymooned there, and had a wonderful experience -- we now only buy Japanese whisky.

So it's day 1 of bachelorhood. I wish the circumstances weren't rife with tensosity, but they are. Wifey said in many ways she dreaded the trip -- but I'm sure once she's there, she'll come around.

And I think that I may just, like Mary Tyler Moore in Minneapolis, make it after all. I don't have a beanie -- maybe I'll walk out to SW 66 Ave and toss my Canes ball cap into the air.