After my Dad died, my Mother was in a fragile state, of course.  She and Dad were inseparable, and although she was entirely capable of living life without him, it was nevertheless understandably daunting and sad for her as she resumed the day to day tasks of daily living.  Going to the post office, calling the plumber, stopping at the bank, pumping gas.  All of this she knew how to do without issue, but without Dad there it was, I would think, just…lonely and unnerving..

She would warn people she dealt with in public of her fragile state by mentioning “I’m newly widowed…”  This had the effect of calming her as she knew no one would be impatient with her occasional grief induced fluster. We all laughed when she admitted a little over a year later that she would really have to stop saying that, even though it was still helpful!

I did something today that shocked me and reminded me of that.  No, I didn’t say I was newly widowed.  Al and I moved in a month or so ago and since we have now decided we want some of the furniture in the garage upstairs, we need some strong dudes to do it for us.  This is not easy to find.  I am a little nervous about the guys hanging out in front of Home Depot, not because they scare me, but because I worry that they will hurt themselves.  I don’t want that.

The regular furniture movers have a two to four hour minimum.  We have about an hours worth of work.  After spending way too much time surfing the internet and getting the same result, I gave up and figured we’d head to Home Depot.  Then the light bulb went on and I called an antique store for a referral.  The first one referred me to another one.

Here was my spiel:  “I have an unusual request.  My husband and I moved to San Clemente a month ago and we have a few pieces of furniture that need to be moved.  Do you have anyone you can recommend to us?”

And then for a measure of sympathy to clinch the request I added:  “We are seniors.”

Well, it’s true.  We are both 58 and that qualifies us for senior centers, if not senior discounts, and certainly the AARP has been courting us for years.   To hear it come out of my mouth just seemed so deceptive though!  But you know, it also felt good.  Oh, the doors that will open now that I can play the part of the little old lady whenever it suits me, and the gray panther when that is called for.

The strong dudes will be here tomorrow.  Diggin’ it.