My mother, Meg, who has featured in many of my posts over the years, has now launched her own blog. This is good timing as I am taking a blog sabbatical.
Anyway, her blog can be found at:
https://thatandalittlebitofthis.home.blog/
She is wise and funny and interesting so, if you feel like checking her out, it will be worth it!
Me: Well, here we are, Ants. This is the last of our public conversations.
Anthony: Has it helped?
Me: Yes, it has helped me to talk to you better in my head; it has helped me to see how grief can be a gift (my mother said that); and it has helped me to be grateful for what we had rather than dwelling on what we lost when you died.
Anthony: You are a champion, Jules.
Me: Yes, I know.
Anthony: So what are you going to do now?
Me: I am going to put our 81 imagined conversations into book form and look for a publisher, Ants. It makes sense to stop at 81 because you will never be 82.
Anthony: So morbid!
Me: Not at all!
Anthony: You were the best thing, most joyful and interesting person, to ever come into my life, Jules.
Me: And you were/are the absolute love of my life, Ants. And then there was the gift of Ming!
Anthony: How is that young chap – my son?
Me: Our son!
Anthony: Our son! Okay!
Me: He is a weird hybrid of you and me – fascinating!
Anthony: Apart from you, Jules, that boy/man was the best thing that ever happened for me and I am so proud of him.
Me: Me too, Ants.
Note: Unblogging for the time being … thanks to my friends/bloggers for your grace x
Anthony: Long time, Jules.
Me: I have been keeping our conversations more silent lately.
Anthony: I know, and even those will become less as time goes by.
Me: The strange thing about the pain of grief is that it feels a lot like excitement; it is almost exactly the same sensation, like a slight punch to the stomach that sort of fizzes up into the chest – a small explosion, short-lived.
Anthony: When does it happen?
Me: Well, yesterday I was having coffee with my mother at a chocolate shop and I had the fleeting, split-second thought that I would buy you a box of the new rose-coloured chocolates.
Anthony: Bittersweet?
Me: Yes, both the chocolate and then the inevitable moment that I remembered you were dead.
Anthony: You sound more at peace; that is what I have been praying for.
Me: Since when do you pray?
Anthony: Well it comes with the territory here, Jules.
Me: Oh. Well your prayers are working. I am much more hopeful now.
Anthony: Of what?
Me: Of nothing really – just hopeful.
Illustration courtesy of Colleen at https://bikecolleenbrown.wordpress.com/
(Colleen is the friend who is collaborating with me on the book about grief).
Me: I hope you realise that these conversations are not about me feeling sorry for myself.
Anthony: Of course I do, Jules.
Me: Mostly I feel really lucky. I don’t think I understood what a rare relationship we had until after you died.
Anthony: An against the odds love story.
Me: There is no need to steal my phrases!
Anthony: You are only two years older than I was when we got married.
Me: Now that is quite weird. Your point?
Anthony: I began a brand new life at 57. You can do that too, at 59.
Me: I hope you aren’t suggesting me getting a boyfriend! Two people have already suggested that. Bleah!
Anthony: JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH, NO!
Me: Why are you speaking in an Irish accent?
Anthony: There are a lot of Irish nuns here.
Me: Oh, okay.
Anthony: You know your idea of working on a book about grief with C as illustrator?
Me: Yes.
Anthony: Genius.
Me: Thanks for the go-ahead. That means a hell of a lot.
Anthony: No need to mention hell; it is a bit of a dirty word here.
Me: Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I am not feeling sorry for myself, just sad, missing you, and kind of wanting go back in time and re-do some of our situations differently.
Anthony: Like you boiling the marmalade all over the Aga?
Me: No, more like you telling me off for being unavailable to look after your mother just after my dad died, when I wanted to comfort my own mother.
Anthony: It wasn’t a particularly good start was it.
Me: No, and it was so embarrassing (in retrospect) for me to be so transparently in love with a man twice my age. 60 Minutes recently did a story about this, so the shock/horror of a 23-year age difference is still newsworthy.
Anthony: I know that these conversations are imagined, Jules, but there is something real about them too.
Me: I feel compelled to keep talking to you like this, at least until August is over. Ming has been amazing, and keeps telling me to tell him if I am particularly depressed, always offering me hugs.
Anthony: My son.
Me: Yes. The dogs are comforting too!
Anthony: Good night, Jules.
Me: Good night, Ants.
Me: I want to keep on talking with you during this week that I have dreaded since August began. Blogging our conversations is, I realise, a weird way of being publicly private and/or privately public and I am well aware of the paradox here but….
Anthony: You really do like to complicate things, Jules.
Me: No way! I would love to be able to simplify/compartmentalise/figure out the wild animal of this grief but I just cannot seem to get a handle on it.
Anthony: You know, when we first met and you were wearing a pink t-shirt, a long Indian skirt, sandals, and your amazing smile, something clicked but I didn’t know what it was.
Me: For me it was a textbook case of love at first sight. It didn’t matter that I thought you were the cowhand and didn’t realise for a few days that you were the actual patriarch so to speak. I was absolutely smitten and it was probably obvious – how embarrassing!
Anthony: I felt it too, Jules, but you were just a kid!
Me: You know that year before we got married where you got all lovey-dovey and admitted that you fell in love with me too way back when?
Anthony: Yes?
Me: Thanks for finally telling me that, because the unrequited thing was horrible. I guess you had already established a reputation for being the long-standing bachelor of our town and I think you rather liked this?
Anthony: Oh yeah, baby!
Me: We really do have a rather beautiful love story, don’t we.
Anthony: I haven’t even found anything comparable in Heaven.
Me: I yearn for you, Ants – it is like this long piece of string that I have to pull out of my throat every day. I know that sounds gross but that is exactly what it feels like to have lost you.
Anthony: Oh, Jules.
Me: I want you back, Ants.
Anthony: Two conversations in one day. I am honoured!
Me: I went to see my psychologist, Daniella, today.
Anthony: Why do you need to see a psychologist?
Me: Let me think … well it just might be that the anniversary of your death is looming and glooming me – duhhh.
Anthony: Oh, that.
Me: I even cried a bit at the start of the session. I try not to do this usually but when she asked what was wrong I just said August, and then she realised. She was just as amazed as I am that it is nearly a year since you died.
Anthony: Daniella seems a benevolent soul.
Me: Bloody hell – I have never heard you say anything like that before!
Anthony: After death comes wisdom.
Me: Really?
Anthony: You will find a reference to this in the Song of Solomon.
Me: Okay, I get it now. You are trying to make me laugh. Bravo – you have succeeded!
Anthony: So what did Daniella say?
Me: To give myself a break, to stop berating myself for this and that, to breathe. She even indicated that my vibes were making her breathless. I told her that I had this constant mantra in my head of get over it, get over it, GET OVER IT, JULIE, since August 1st.
Anthony: And?
Me: Well then I blabbed on about how grateful I was for our rather unique relationship, our against-multiple-odds love story, Boney M, and my recurrent dream in which I take you from the nursing home to a party, forget your meds and you miraculously stand up out of the wheelchair and begin dancing.
Anthony: That dream has actually come true, Jules.
Me: Yes, that is what Daniella said! Do you still do your jumping up and down on-the-spot dance moves? You do realise, I hope, that the cracks in the wall of the living room are probably due to that dancing phase of yours.
Anthony: Sorry.
Me: I so wish Ming had known you back then and I told Daniella that too. I think that makes me sadder than anything else in the wake of your death; your beautiful son, who is so much like you in so many ways, never knew the ultra-lively man I fell for.
Anthony: Why have you put such a dreadful photo of me here?
Me: Because it was just before the nursing home days and Peter visited you once a week after that – one of your many wonderful nephews. His visits were like gold – remember?
Anthony: Yes.
Me: So Daniella suggested focussing on all of the good stuff, the funny stories, the great memories; she even suggested turning some of the sad bits of our story into something comical. Ingenious!
Anthony: I really liked what you wrote yesterday.
Me: Why, thank you, kind sir!
Anthony: The Boney M clip was wonderful.
Me: I knew you would appreciate that. I wish now that I had thought to play it to you in the nursing home. Oh well – the benefit of hindsight and all that.
Anthony: Yes, I did get a little tired of The Office, especially the American version.
Me: I know. Sorry about that but I loved it and it was a brilliant way of passing the hours in the nursing home. I would give anything now to be sitting next to you, holding your hand while you dozed, or stared, mystified, at a millionth episode of The Office, eating olives and sipping wine on a sunny Sunday like today. Or else, chatting with my mother as she did her hairpin lace, both of us on either side of you, our chatter inevitably putting you to sleep.
Anthony: She really did love me, that mother of yours, even though I broke your heart when you were still just a kid of 18. And then broke it again.
Me: Again?
Anthony: By dying.
Me: Oh, I see what you mean. Yes, she really did love you. To begin with, no. I am quite sure both of my parents were appalled that their innocent, teenage daughter had fallen for a middle-aged man who was at the opposite end of the spectrum of their belief system, Christianity. If I recall correctly, you were a self-declared atheist and, as a rather evangelical adolescent, I convinced you that an agnostic stance might be safer. We did have some rather heated theological discussions.
Anthony: Yes, I slipped into Heaven via the back door.
Me: What?
Anthony: Just kidding, Jules!
Me: One of things that most fascinates me about grief is the fact that it is, actually, really fascinating. I can watch that Boney M clip and cry and laugh in the same moment; I can remember the first moment I saw you and the last moment I saw you as if 40 years of knowing each other is a single, resonating clash of unexpected harmony. Now that you have been dead for nearly a year, I love you just as much as I did when you were still alive.
Anthony: I have never quite understood how your mind works, Jules, but if it is of any comfort, I miss you too.
Me: In just a few days it will be the first anniversary of your death which is so weird because it feels like it was just the other day. I am not quite sure what I am supposed to do on this day. Do I go somewhere – away? Ming has asked me the same question – should we go out for breakfast? What do you do on a deathday? August itself has paralysed me somewhat, Ants, which I did NOT anticipate. I feel like I am at some sort of event where you have to choose between various PTSD showbags!
Anthony: I will be having a similar day, Jules. I think it would be a good idea to simply have a nap.
Me: Okay. I just want to get to September and out of August.
Anthony: Perfectly understandable, Jules; after all, I was your knight in shining armour.
Me: You were also a horribly cruel, heart-breaking bastard! Remember our first argument, underneath the clothesline just after my dad died, and I called you a selfish pig?
Anthony: Shhhh! I am in Heaven now and I do not want to jeopardise that.
Me: I am so glad that we figured out it was a family farm, financial situation and not personal. 57-year-old bachelors do not usually get married. I think the expectation was for you to leave your inheritance to either your siblings or nieces and nephews.
Anthony: Why are you bringing this up now?
Me: Because I am not afraid any more of the backlash after we announced our engagement. I was so naïve then! You were so wonderfully brave (although I did wonder why we were taking a case of champagne to accompany our engagement announcement). This is hilarious in retrospect!
Anthony: Bravo, Jules!
Me: When I look back at that scene, champagne flowing, beaming expressions on every single face, I am amazed at what happened next.
Anthony: And…?
Me: Well, the funny/paradoxical thing is I actually do not care anymore about the person who hurt you most and I wish I had developed this ability to be indifferent earlier in my life.
Anthony: Make peace, not war.
Me: I thought the saying was more like, make love, not war, via John Lennon? Your roomie?
Anthony: There is no need to stoke old coals, Jules.
Me: Why do you not want me to tell the truth, Ants?
Anthony: Because I am already dead anyway. It does not matter!
Me: Okay….
Anthony: Have a laugh, Jules!
Me: Good idea!
Anthony: I thought we weren’t going to have these talks any more.
Me: You sound hurt.
Anthony: Not hurt exactly, more nonplussed.
Me: It is all the details of death that prevent any finality and, yeah, that dreadful word, closure.
Anthony: Like what?
Me: Like the stupid Probate thing – registering – via our lawyer, your Will to the Supreme Court – to prove that I am your beneficiary, executor, wife etc.
Anthony: So how are your inherited paddocks?
Me: Oh, swimmingly, Ants – the rain has been relentless! Anyway, I need some photo ID of you for this probate process and all I can find is a very scary portrait of you on an out-dated passport.
Anthony: Why is it scary?
Me: You look like a thug!
Anthony: So what happens next?
Me: Apparently, once we get past this probate thing, I will become officially entitled to everything – the house, land, your shares, your holiday house in Bermuda – everything!
Anthony: I thought you thought sarcasm was the lowest form of wit, Jules.
Me: And I thought death was simple, Ants. How could I have possibly anticipated the amount of red tape that would surround your death, or the length of time if would take for this probate thing?
Anthony: I am so sorry, Jules!
Me: Why? Not your fault but I tell you what, Ants, I am getting things clearly written and legal-easy for Ming in case I die sooner rather than later. You never know.
Anthony: You never know what is around the corner.
Me: You used to say that to me all the time in a funny way!
Anthony: Jules?
Me: Yes, oh wise one?
Anthony: Tell Ming that it is all going to be splendid.
Me: Okay. I will. And if it is all right with you, I would like to continue these conversations every now and then, for awhile.
Anthony: Good idea and I am relieved..
Me: Me too, Ants. I love you so much!
Anthony: And the whole of Heaven heaves for you too, Jules.
Me: Bleah!
Photo taken before Ants got really sick – maybe 2007?
jmgoyder 