37

I wanted to buy cookies for his birthday.
I wanted to deliver them to his office,
to his colleagues, officemates, friends.
I wanted someone to celebrate him.
It seemed wise to call before I just drop in.
I googled his office, finding the phone number.
“Hello, can I help you?”
And that’s when I realize I will seem crazy.
“Well, I think so.  I hope so.  My husband used to work in that office.  I’m looking for anyone who knew him.”
I tell her his name.  She says she didn’t know him.
I toss out a few names of the people I remember
from his professional circle.
Could I speak with Tanya?  Sheila?  Chris?  Matt?
She explains that I have called a private insurance office.
So I haven’t called the larger corporate office where he spent his days.
She puts me on the phone with her boss.
He tells me he didn’t know my husband.
(Please, I don’t want anyone else to tell me that today.)
They give me the number to the second floor in the mirrored building,
but by then I can’t bring myself to navigate the labyrinth of “please press one”
and “please hold”
and “I didn’t know your husband.”
Forget the cookies.
I’ll buy one for myself.
Or I won’t.

I’ll go rollerblading instead.
I pull out the rollerblades from the basement,
the Mrs. pair of the His and Hers.
I haven’t bladed in more than ten years.
Not since Robb fell in the parking lot of our apartment complex, badly injured his hip, and needed prednisone shots for weeks.
We put the rollerblades away after that.
But I always loved rollerblading.
Today is the day.
Today is my day.  On his day.
I’ll gear up,
helmet, knee pads, elbow pads,
and I’ll rollerblade like it’s 1998.
I only fell three times.
Once on the sidewalk.
Once on the street.
Once on dry grass.
Sticks, really.
I pretty much chose the double black diamond of rollerblading paths.
There was some backward bending motion
when my top half hit the ground by my feet kept moving.
But I have been so crazy-ass tough today.
I didn’t even notice until I got home that my right leg was scratched and tattered.
Even as I type, I realize I have a splinter in my thumb from that spill in particular.
I’m pretty sure Robb wouldn’t recognize the girl
who got up and kept going,
one fall after another.
Pink sang her angsty melodies in my earbuds,
a most excellent Pandora choice
for a day of angry liberation.
Just as I find my legs again,
just as I find my groove and learn how to stay vertical,
Kelly Clarkson is pounding her rhythm in my ear:
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
I soar down the sidewalk,
pounding my fists in the air,
letting the rhythm beat louder than my heart.
I have forgotten about the exhiliration
of the post-exercise high.
God knows I’m not a runner anymore.
Maybe rollerblading is my new thing.
Or maybe I’m just angry again.

Over lunch,
I have a telephone conference with my editor.
He is kind, gracious, gentle, encouraging,
and a remarried widower.
He told me I could send him my manuscript
anytime I want,
anytime I’m ready,
anytime I’m confident.
He promises to recognize it as infantile,
and he will neither decide that it’s horrible
nor nominate me for a Pulitzer.
I am encouraged by both promises.
I’ll send it soon… I promise.
He asks me how I’m doing on this day,
Robb’s birthday.
“How old would he be?”
“37.”
“Ah.  You know, I know words don’t help on a day like this, so I won’t say very much.  But I want to tell you this: the grief changes.  You carry it with you, and it becomes a sadness you’re aware of, but the gutting ache of it recedes.”
I listen as he prays for me,
for my writing,
for my grieving,
for my celebrating.
He invites me to take the day off from writing.
“You’re allowed, you know.”
I tell him I intend to,
but I don’t really know how.

I spend the afternoon feeling numb,
with emotions just under my frozen surface.
I write a little,
I drive some,
I stare at nothing a lot.

I pick the boys up from school.
They are gentle and calm.
They play on the playground for an hour,
until Tucker is so thirsty he begins to cry.
I suspect his tears have nothing to do with wanting water, but I will get that sweet boy a drink.

I take them to dinner at our favorite pizza place,
the one whose decor is comprised of doodled napkins
in simple frames.
We have a napkin on the wall.

“I should save some of these garlic knots and take them to heaven.

They were Daddy’s favorite.”

~ Tyler

Robb Williford, 1975 – 2010

Its frame hangs near the cash register.
They seat us at a corner table;
we ate there for at least 36 weeks weeks
of my pregnancy with Tyler.
I can see the table
where we celebrated Tyler’s first birthday,
and table after table
where we had family dates with friends.
I order a medium pepperoni pizza;
we won’t need a large anymore.
As we wait for the food,
the boys play on iPods,
and I read a book
and sense judging glances.
The family seated next to us
is familiar to the staff,
on a first-name basis,
ordering their ‘usual.’
And I very nearly hate them
for thinking that will last forever.

The pizza comes,
and I serve a piece to each of the boys.
I decide life is too short
to work my way clockwise around the pizza,
and I choose the piece I want from the middle of the opposite half:
the piece with the big, puffy crust.
Robb always served me that piece first.
I serve myself, pretending he holds the spatula.
And I hear myself say, “Thanks, babe.”

We eat in silence.
I pretend like this birthday
isn’t tearing me apart.
I pay the bill,
and the young server brings me my receipts.
Surely, in all of my days,
someone has accidentally or mistakenly
called me “Miss” Williford,
but his mistake crushes me.

The boys want to visit Daddy’s napkin before we leave.
We look in the usual spot;
it’s not there.
Tucker assigns each of us
a row of frames to inspect for the napkin
that is the closest thing we have to a tombstone.
It’s not there.

“What are you guys looking for?” a server asks.
Our napkin.
We had a napkin on the wall.
“Oh, it’s probably around here somewhere.  We move ’em around now and then before we take ’em down and replace ’em.  If you want, if you can’t find it, you can ‘real quick’ make a new one and I’ll throw it into a frame.  If you want.”
I don’t want.

I don’t want one more person to tell me
they don’t remember,
they’ve lost his space,
they’ve taken what I have.
I really don’t think Robb would recognize this girl
who keeps getting up again,
one fall after another.

Tricia Lott Williford

Comments are closed

  1. Tricia, your rawness is a blessing for those of us reading. Your openness, your willingness to show us what we’ve already felt – that it hurts so badly at times, that it feels as if it’ll never heal, that it’ll always be the fresh scrape from the pavement of life. We, your readers, love your blog because you are fully human – you share your joys, your tears, your frustrations, your fears. We relate to every bit of it. You are blessing countless people every day. This IS one of your ministries in life – an inadvertent, I-never-asked-for-it ministry that blossomed out of a woman not wanting to forget important parts of her day. THANK YOU. I am better for it.

  2. Oh Trisha, we here at Farmers DO remember Robb, every day, in a hundred different ways. How could we not? He had a laugh or story for everyone. He was our cheering section when we needed encouragement. Because he was such a tremendous teacher/trainer, we renamed our Training Room in his honor. Everyone sees his name, every day, and remembers. His unwavering faith was a role model for the rest of us. Most of all, he was our friend. And we miss him and celebrate the fact that we got to share him with you for a few hours a week. We would be very happy to welcome you back any time you want to come to the mirrored building, second floor, and we’ll definitely take your cookies too! 🙂

  3. I heard him play the trumpet in a Santa hat. I said hello to him. He smiled at me.
    Did I meet him? Did you introduce me? That Sunday before he died? I was telling you that I loved your blog. I think you told him who I was and that I read your blog. I don’t remember for sure. But I do remember him.

  4. actually, I believe he would recognize you – he’s seen that “getting up” girl, no doubt it’s who he fell in love with, though he enjoyed being the lifter of your head while he could – keep getting up, and when you feel that you cannot, the original lifter of your head is still very, very near. (Ps 3:3-5, a bit out of context, but still applicable)

  5. Well, it was two days before. The OCD in me couldn’t leave that. 😀

  6. The Asst. Mgr. remembers.

    Because of you, we who are strangers and friends and loved ones, we of the common bond of being your readers, remember.

    We rejoice with you in your victories and strengths, and I’ll venture to say, we have often shed real tears, sitting in front of computer screens that reveal a vunerable, passionate, crazy, smart, funny amazing woman. I’ve had to call for kleenex, afraid to move or the tears and snot might drip onto the floor or down my shirt. I’ve snorted my coffee and nearly choked to death because of you, Trish. I consider you my friend, even though we’ve never met. Someday we will meet, either here or in glory, and until then, I’ll continue to pray and to rejoice and to sometimes cry.

    Happy Birthday, Robb. You were born one day before my firstborn daughter. I’ll never forget.

  7. Wonder where the rest of my comment went. 🙂

  8. I am the Asst. Mgr. at that mirrored building and have been for 8 years now. I rode the elevator many times with Robb and exchanged many “good mornings or good afternoons”. I just wanted you to know that I rememeber him.

  9. I don’t know

    Sent from my iPad

You Are Safe Now

Available April 9, 2024

This Book Is for You

Now Available
A book about falling in love with the Bible

Just. You. Wait.

Now Available
#1 New Title on Amazon in Christian Inspiration

You Can Do This

Now Available
#1 New Title on Amazon in Women's Issues!

Let's Pretend We're Normal

Now Available
#1 Bestseller on Amazon in Single Parenting

And Life Comes Back

Now Available
#1 in Denver Post: Nonfiction Paperback and Finalist for 2015 Christian Book Award
© 2015-2024 Tricia Lott Williford. All Rights Reserved. Site by Concept To Web.