1. Down South
Harper
Friday, December 20th
I’ve loaded my olive green Toyota 4Runner with my things for a week-long stay in Weslaco, Texas. If traffic is favorable, it’s about a seven-hour drive from where I live in Waco. I just knew it was going to be a long day of traveling. At least I had plenty of music to listen to along the way.
I left my house at eight in the morning and would arrive at my destination at about three in the afternoon if I didn’t stop. But I would be stopping for fuel, potty breaks, and food. There was no way I could push through the whole distance without a stop.
Weslaco was a small town on the Texas and Mexico border on the US side. I’m only making this trip because my kids asked me to. They had to go to their biological father and stepmom’s house for Christmas this year. In other years, it was fine because I had my husband to keep me company. This year, though, I will be alone after the kids leave.
You see, a little over a year ago, my husband was in a car accident that ended his life—taking him away from me and my kids after having him for eight years. I had known my husband for a few years before we started dating while I was pregnant with my daughter. We got married a few months after she was born.
Last Christmas, I had my kids keep me company, and we made the best of it. This year, though, my kids, Archer and Olivia, have asked me to visit some friends, so I’m not alone for the holidays. Archer is my ten-year-old son. He’s a sweet little guy who thinks of others more than himself. He has gray eyes and dirty blond hair with lovable chubby cheeks. Olivia, my eight-year-old daughter, is too wise for her age. Her dark blue eyes and dark brown hair remind me of myself.
I don’t speak with any of my family anymore due to bad blood, so good friends are what I need right now. Sometimes, the family you’re born into isn’t the family you’re supposed to have. I firmly believe that some people need to make their own family.
This trip would make me happy because it has been a couple of years since I’ve seen Nancy and her husband. I met her at a training seminar for counselors who had volunteered for several military units in our state. There were five of us in the training who became friends quickly and have stayed in touch over the years. All five of us had one thing in common: we were all counselors for our husband’s military units. You see, not everyone who volunteers has a spouse in a unit. They want to help the soldiers out.
My husband was a great soldier, and he enjoyed his military life. Hell, I enjoyed it too. He was always on activation orders, keeping him at the unit even when the others were gone. He was happy in his career, and I was delighted when I started helping the unit out. I made so many great friends within our military unit. They all became family to us.
After my husband left the military, we moved to Waco so he could work as an architect at a large company that designed hotel blueprints. He had an engineer’s mind that made me jealous most days. He was good at whatever he wanted to do. If he set his mind on it, then it would happen. He was just that type of person.
While thinking about what life was like before, I got a text message from my friend Rose. She will meet me for lunch today at the halfway point of this trip in San Antonio. She was one of the ladies I met at the military counselor seminar. I grab my phone from its dock in my vehicle and open my messages to see what’s up.
"What time will you be here?"
"I should be there at about eleven-thirty. Where would you like to meet?"
"Let’s meet at a restaurant called Cured at 306 Pearl Parkway."
"Sounds great. See you soon."
I placed my phone back in its dock and tapped on the address in my texts. My GPS picked it up without any problems. I’m then routed to the location and start singing along with the music on the radio. I listen to all kinds of music, and if you ever press shuffle on my playlist, there’s no telling what you might get. I have everything from country to rap, hip-hop, heavy metal, and rock. Rock is my favorite, though.
It didn’t take long, and I was in San Antonio traffic headed for my lunch destination. After battling the traffic and finding the restaurant, I quickly parked. I saw Rose standing at the entrance, patiently waiting for me. I quickly jumped out of the vehicle and made my way over to her. As soon as she saw me, she wrapped me up in a tight hug.
“Hey, sweetie. How are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m doing alright. Every day is a new day, isn’t it?” I replied with a small smile.
“That it is,” she said as she opened the door to Cured and led me inside.
She gave her name at the hostess’s desk, and we were led to a table in the back. This is a restaurant you need reservations to get into. I wonder how long in advance she needed to make the reservation for us to be able to eat here.
We took our seats and looked over the menu. The waiter came over, took our drink order, and gave us a few minutes to decide what to eat.
“So, are you excited about seeing Nancy and everyone?” Rose asked.
“Yes. It will be great to get away and see some people I haven’t seen in a while,” I told her.
“I’m sure it will be. Have you been up to anything new lately?”
“Not much. I’m just writing a new book and fixing up another Airbnb. I’ve got two in Waco already; I’m just working on the third.”
“Good. Have you or the kids talked to a therapist or anything? I want to make sure you’re taking care of yourselves mentally,” she said in a concerned voice.
Before I could answer, the waiter returned and asked, with a bright smile, “Are you all ready to order?”
“Yes,” Rose said, looking up at him. “I’ll take the Boudin Empanadas.”
“That sounds good, but I’ll take the Single Blue Ribbon Burger,” I answered.
We both handed the waiter our menus, and he walked away.
I took a deep breath and answered Rose’s question, ” To answer your question, yes. Both of the kids are still seeing a therapist. I saw one for about a month and then stopped going.”
She nodded and said, “As long as you’re all ok, that’s all that matters. And if you need help, do you have people to call?”
“Yes. I’ve learned how to live with the amputation of not having him, and I’m ok.”
I learned a few years ago that when you lose someone that close to you, it’s like living without one of your limbs. It’s like learning to go through life with a missing body part. I have adjusted over the past year. People thought I was cold-hearted because I pushed my emotions aside and moved forward. But I had to for me and my kids.
Our food came out, and we dug in while changing the subject to lighter and happier things. We chatted while eating, and I learned what she was up to. Naturally, she was still working with military units but was looking forward to next year when she would call it a career.
Once we were done with lunch, we paid and left the restaurant. We stepped outside the restaurant to talk a little more before I got back on the road.
“It was great to see you, sweetie,” Rose said, bringing me in for another hug.
“It was great to see you, too,” I said.
“Be safe on your trip, and if you need anything, just let me know.” a
“I will,” I said with a smile.
We hugged each other tightly again and then went to our vehicles. I climbed into my vehicle and left while putting Nancy’s address back in my GPS. When I got back on the road, I noticed I needed to get gas before leaving San Antonio.
I found a gas station to stop at and pulled up to a pump. I went inside to get a snack and some water for later. While walking around the store, I noticed a man watching me intently. I quickly moved to the cash register, ready to leave. I went back out to fill up my vehicle while looking at the store’s front door out of the corner of my eye. I’ve always been good at reading people’s intentions and energy by how they hold themselves and look at others.
I was glad when the guy watching me in the store walked out and got into a car parked right in front of the store. Thankfully, he drove away, not giving me another glance.
Once my vehicle was full of gas, I climbed back in to start my trip again. While on the road, I sang along to my music again.
I finally pulled up to Nancy and Kevin’s house at 4:00 p.m. I parked on the street because I noticed a bunch of vehicles in the driveway and around their house. I wondered who was here. Were they already having a party without me?
It was pure bliss for the trip to be over. I was happy to get out of my vehicle after that long drive. I needed to stretch my legs and let my now numb butt find feeling again. As I stepped out of my vehicle, I could hear their dog, Murphy, barking from inside the house. He’s a loud-ass German Shepard with a lot of energy and kisses to give.
Nancy ripped the door to the house open in excitement, and everyone inside spilled out onto the front yard to welcome me. I can see and feel everyone’s excitement—happy faces and loud laughs. Everyone was here to see me.
I was passed around and hugged by everyone in the house: Nancy, Kevin, and their two kids, Elena and Jodi; Alicia and her husband, John; and Linda and her husband, Eddie. There was a lot of love here with my friends, and I was grateful for it.
Once everyone greeted me, we all went into the backyard. I’m grateful it’s not cold outside today, so we can enjoy sitting outside. Then again, in Texas, winter isn’t frigid. We don’t get a lot of snow; when we do, it’s generally in January and February.
They had a fire going in the fire pit outside already. We all grabbed a chair and sat around talking about things going on in our lives. All the men have left the military, and the ladies have since stopped volunteering as unit councilors. We were all moving forward in life somehow.
Nancy came out of the house with some pink vodka lemonade for everyone except the two kids, and soon the party was on. We all talked about fun times and shared stories while drinking our glasses. I took a sip of my drink and was instantly in love. I will need to have this again before I leave.
Nancy was in her early forties now. She was a heavier-set woman about my height, with black hair and dark brown eyes. She was full of life and loved to live it. She was a total mom to everyone around her, including me. She loved to talk, so there was never a quiet moment around her. Her husband, Kevin, was a little taller than her. He’s a bald guy with dark brown eyes. He’s silent most of the time unless he has a lot of company, then he likes to talk.
Alicia is the oldest lady of all of us. She’s in her early fifties but is rocking it. Her black hair now has streaks of silver in it. It looks good on her, and I wonder if I will be blessed like that when I’m older. She’s thinner and a couple of inches taller than me. She is sometimes a bit eccentric, but we still love her. Her husband, John, is about the same height as Kevin. He has light brown eyes and dark brown hair.
Linda is the tallest of all the women in our group. She’s even taller than her husband. She also has dark brown eyes and black hair. She’s sweet, but she doesn’t take crap from anyone. Her husband, Eddie, is closer to my height and is a stout man with light brown eyes and black hair.
If you haven’t guessed, everyone here is Hispanic, and I’m the only white girl at the party. But I never feel out of place here, not even when they start speaking Spanish. Because of them, I learned to speak Spanish and can now keep up with the conversations and contribute. The only thing that made me stand out from them was my blue eyes and brown hair.
All three men in our group were in military leadership years ago when I met all the ladies. My husband wasn’t a higher-ranking leader but was still in charge of other soldiers. We were a little different like that.
Every time we are all together, they share stories about military deployments and the stupid things they or other soldiers did that they were in charge of. We ladies share things about our kids, work, and things we encounter in our units. There was always a story to tell and always a laugh to be had.
We all sat and talked about our lives for about an hour. Alicia, John, Linda, and Eddie all headed home soon after they finished their glasses of pink vodka lemonade. It was great to see everyone, but it was too loud for me, with everyone hooting, hollering, and laughing up a storm. I was very used to the quiet.
The five of us left at the house, moved inside to hang out. Elena showed me around the house and told me what updates they had made since the last time I was here, about three years ago. She showed me her room and the new things she’d gotten. She’s now a seventeen-year-old athlete with lots of dreams and hobbies. When the time comes for her to go off to college next year, she wants to be a nurse.
Sitting in her room, I can see she has picked up a collection of books to read, from young adult to adventure, self-help books, and a few romance novels. I look through the titles and see my series of young adult books and my first two romance novels.
“How did you like reading my books?” I asked her as I sat down on a chair in her room.
“Mom and I both loved them. We can’t wait to see what you come up with next,” she answers enthusiastically.
I smile that even my friends enjoy the books I’ve poured my heart and soul into. I looked at her mirror and noticed tons of concert ticket stubs. She’s always loved music and socializing, so the concert scene was definitely for her.
“What else have you been up to lately?” I asked, looking back at her.
“Mom and I have been going to a Zumba class at the YMCA here twice a week. It’s tons of fun,” she answers.
“That’s awesome,” I told her.
We sat and chatted for a few more minutes about various things until Jodi walked in and had a seat with us. He plopped down beside Elena on her bed.
“So, how’s college going?” I asked him.
“Going good. I’m almost done with it,” he answered.
“That’s awesome. It will be a relief when you’re done,” I told him. “What have you been up to other than college, though?”
“I started hiking every Saturday morning with some friends. I like to go to a kickboxing class twice a week, and I’ve found meditation every morning has helped me relax and not stress over college so much,” he told me.
“That’s amazing. Can you teach me some meditation techniques while I’m here?” I asked.
“Heck yeah,” Jodi said excitedly.
Meditation will help me with work and personal stresses. Plus, my kids stress me out and make me mad daily, which might help. The three of us continued to chat until Nancy walked into the room with Murphy prancing around with his rope toy in his mouth. I instantly grabbed the rope and started playing with Murphy. Everyone giggled while he growled and tried to get his rope away from me. This dog loved to play.
