New Year's Day. Beginnings -- and endings -- are very much on my mind. Last night was the first time in decades that I didn't receive a midnight New Year's Eve call from my beloved friend and roommate, Lionel.
Today marks the beginning of a year full of such heartbreaking firsts. Lionel Barrington Jaggers was buried at the veteran's military cemetery in Quantico, Virginia on Wednesday, December 22, 2010. The next day, I flew home to St. Louis to be with my family over the holidays. Their love and support have comforted me through these first difficult days since the funeral.
But now, it is time to face reality. Tomorrow, I return home to D.C. and the tiny Adams-Morgan apartment where Lionel lived with me for most of the nearly 30 years that we knew each other. There will be no one for me to call and announce my arrival once the plane has landed. No one to help me carry my bags up from the lobby. No "Welcome Home, I missed you" hug. No stack of mail carefully set aside for me. No one badgering me to see what I brought him, or what food my sister sent. No television or stereo blasting. No chattering narrative filling me in on the miscellaneous events during my absence. Just the still, eerie silence. And emptiness. Much like my heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment