Poetic Resonance

In the morning, The Man received confirmation of his flight itinerary from Yemen. They confirmed flight time of today and all the connection flights to Sanaa. A bit of lag there, Yemen.

The three of us - me, The Man, The Boy - went downtown to get photographic material for Boy. Then we went to St. Lawrence Market to get some lunch.

I love the market. The meat counters sell the most delicious breakfast sausages I have ever had anywhere. Not the salty limp stuff you get at the supermarkets. These are wholesome fresh links. No preservatives. Tastes so much better. I also bought little bits of this and that for Thanksgiving and for our fridge. I will go back and get filet mignon later in the month. $4.50 for an 8 oz piece - I think that's a good deal.

We came home and The Man did some errands, made some final phone calls. I saw him clean and put a way a screen. He told me he did that so I wouldn't have to. I don't know what screen he means.

At 3:30, all three of us walked down the street - me beside Man on the sidewalk, Boy on his electric scooter with Man's carryon backpack on his back. Boy had sneaked a bottle of Jones vanilla soda in the pack. I don't know if they will let Man take glass on the plane. But I guess they will scan his pack and get him to pull it out. We walked down to the No Frills parking lot. We bid our final farewells and Man got into a cab for the airport. Boy and I went to get groceries for Thanksgiving at No Frills.

I know it sounds sad that we made a seemingly casual no frills goodbye in a No Frills parking lot. But it felt poignant and right. The afternoon was bright and cool. It could have been spring or autumn. The Man hopped into a cab without fanfare. He could have been going downtown or to Yemen. It was sad, but romantic and simple too, like cosying up to watch movies and have pizza and beer on New Year's Eve instead of getting all caught up in grand affairs. The Man wanted the three of us together. I think he wanted to walk away quietly without disturbance, preserving the life as he knows it for his return. I wanted to continue our lives as normally as possible in his absence. We got that. It felt right that the goodbye should take place with the usual activities from our life around us.