Stopped

Though my wife has been gone from me for something near a year and a half, I find myself at one point or another, during the course of each day, thinking of her.  I think about her every single time I pump fuel into her car (because she always hounded me about twisting the gas-cap until it clicked several times).  Walking past the room that was once her craft space is often a trigger for thought.  Sometimes, out of nowhere, her smile appears in my mind.

I experience one or the other of two distinct emotions when I think of Uyen…I am either overcome with sorrow or I find that I am happy to recall a light or even mundane moment we shared.

Yesterday, as I gazed up at the sky-wide flow of clownishly over-inflated clouds my thoughts somehow turned to Uyen.  I thought about the day we worked together constructing the masonry piers that now serve as entry posts to my drive.  That day, as yesterday, was filled with afternoon warmth and exquisite clouds.   I swear, as I stood there watching, the clouds stopped moving entirely.  I mean, the whole sky just stopped moving!  And they remained stock still until I finally smiled and let Uyen go one more time.

--Mitchell Hegman