The sale is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. September 2. One property is east of Sweetwater, the rest are in town.
I'm reading a book where, after his mother's death, the author relates dreams about carrying her through unfamiliar streets, not being able find guiding signs or landmarks that might lend a clue to where they're going, and it reminded me of the dreams I used to have after my mother died. It's coming up on fifteen years since she's been gone.
I would dream that I would be caring for her and she would slip down in a split between two mattresses and disappear, or that I would forget about her for weeks, or even years, and go into a panic, fearing she had starved in my absence.
Thankfully, those dreams don't come to me now. I guess time and life have knocked the edges off my feelings of guilt, and slowed down my mental rearranging of events in the the last year of her life, trying to think of things I could have done to make her more comfortable, to help her rest easy.
There was one powerful dream I had about her that was fitting and satisfying. In it, I had driven up to the house that I live in now, which belonged to my parents back in the 1960's. There was a crowd in the yard, a party going on. People were holding drinks, talking to each other and laughing. There were a couple of shade tents set up, with coolers and food sitting on tables beneath them.
I saw my mom come edging through the people, holding a glass high above her head, and laughing as she tried to part the crowd to hand someone a drink. I called out "Mom! Mom!" to get her attention, but she couldn't hear me over the sounds of merriment. I could see she was having a good time, and it made me feel happy for her.
She still shows up in my dreams, but now it's just to say some everyday thing like "We need more corn" or "I'm going to town". She's not lost or forgotten, and I'm not riven with guilt. Of course, she's always with me. I stood in Goodwill just the other day with tears rolling down my face because a song was playing that reminded me of her. "Now that she's back in the atmosphere, with drops of Jupiter in her hair, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh..."
When she first died I could only think how ridiculous it was, how stupid, how unbelievable. The strongest person I know, the one who knew me so well, had just vanished.
Now memories of her are woven into the context of my everyday life, as constant and un-intrusive as a clock on the wall or a hand towel next to the sink. Well, I'm kind of lying, because she could never be that ordinary. To tell the truth, I'm still learning to live without her.
Here's a list of some local casual (no college degree needed!) employment opportunities:
Texas Department of Transportation
Western Texas College - Snyder
A couple of other sites to browse for jobs:
Some of them expire soon, so get a move on if you're interested!