November heralded itself as a month of recovery and introspection. December proved to be the fruit of that month.
As the air chilled over the last month of 2003 the spirits warmed between young Laura and I. After mother’s visit it seemed our hearts strengthened to ourselves as being quite back together again in a more committed way than before. We still only saw each other once or twice a week, but also with the coming of a long holiday vacation apart from one another we seemed to cuddle just a little bit closer.
Laura was to head home on the 19th and I had two days off previous to that day so we set ourselves a date for our own merry little Christmas on the 17th. The night of the 16th I ventured out to see the midnight showing of Return to the King which got me home by 4:30 in the morning, so when time came to rise the next morning I failed to do so. I ended up missing a haircut appointment and catching an afternoon bus. Laura had had something to get done anyway, so in the end it all worked out and we were opening presents by the late afternoon.
Strangely our presents complimented each other nicely. She had made for me a Scrabble game laid out neatly on a cloth with foam letters so that I could travel easily with it in my pack. In turn, I got her a trip to NYC, via rail, so we could snuggle in a cozy little sleeper car on our way to a sublet in the West Village for the week. I figured we could play some Scrabble along the way in the observation car. She seemed quite pleased with the idea. That night we went out for dinner then wrapped ourselves in for a cozy night. We had breakfast in the morning then the next day she was off back to the east.
Young Mel over this month came to a sudden sad conclusion as she reviewed her finances. The trip to Seattle would not be able to be made. With all of her schooling to be done the next semester there would not be enough time to put in the hours needed for her to get supplied and still have savings enough to come. This in mind we decided the money would be better spent going to matinees almost daily.
Over the week Laura disappeared I spent a lot of time with Mel watching movies and playing board games. In the middle of the month I decided I was tired of my sobriety kick, or more over, tired of going out with my friends and drinking coffee after coffee at a bar, so I decided to go back to my old ways kicking it off with some Karaoke at Charlie’s and rocking the mic to Cold as Ice. Anyway, Christmas Eve rolled around so Mel and I invited over some folks to her place and had a rousing good time ringing in the holiday. The next day I was meant to catch an early bus to St. Louis but had great difficulty rising from the bed at such an early hour with such an awful hang over, so I caught the night bus instead.
One would have thought I’d learned my lesson with old Mr. Greyhound. That long distances on the bus are unpleasant and uncomfortable. No, I rode the dog regardless for the sake of my dear friend Margo’s wedding, and a beautiful wedding it was. I was reunited with my friend Katy from Texas as well and spent most of my time visiting with her and her husband, Bubba. The reception was held at one of the coolest places I’ve ever been to. The City Museum in St. Louis. It was a very elegant building they’d rented out for the occasion, but along with being elegant it was also very entertaining. Among the three floors were tunnels, shoots, slides, and hideaways the owner had built. Outside was about a seven story jungle gym made for adults complete with bouncy ropes, gutted single prop planes to crawl through, and stretches upon stretches of little wire off shoots to climb through. At one point during the reception I heard someone had asked where Bubba and I had gone off to. As soon as they said it we ran screaming and hollering past the window they were standing by and slid away down a near by shoot. A good time was had by all.
The adventures continued the next day after a visit with Margo and her new husband, Walter. Katy, Bubba, and I hopped in a car and drove down to San Antonio where I stayed a few days in their new house. For New Years we went up to Austin and visited with Katy’s family and I met yet another two year old who clung to me the whole night. All was well.
Over these last weeks of December as Laura was back home and then I was jaunting around from Missouri to Texas we called each other every day. We talked for an hour or so each time and spoke of great anticipation of seeing each other again in January when I returned for she was back already. Thus was the great month of December and the end of the first half of my hiatus from the walk.
Next month, are Chris and Laura the same as they were before their separation? Find out the chilling developments in January 2004.