she sits in front of the fridge deciding on her meal-
oh yeah,
and for me too
she looks and decides which food best describes our lives-
"yeah the tofutti-
Meli-
that's for you.
and for me
yeah, it's the greek salad.
it has cucumber, feta cheese and red onion.."
we drove up and killed the lights
we sat in front of the lights and talked about the memories that were stored inside the blue house with the black shutters...
"that house- i used to sleep in, bec.
that lawn i know by heart
and remember ralph? i had a better looking lawn than him. I know him, my lawn was way better..
that porch,
that porch i used to come home from school or work and take a nap on.
i would ponder the world and wonder if it would end up being as beautiful and quiet as that view of the birch tree and the lawn in back.
i remember many games of football and lazy days of playing catch with my kid brother.."
she says "you know when you found a new best friend- i was demoted to the back seat. Because of darby, i was demoted to the back seat and you used to yell at me for being late for the car pool to school when you were still putting your makeup on while you were driving... you demoted me even though i had been the one who stayed up late talking in my parent's kitchen, feeding you all the m and m's you wanted.. and you let her sit in the damn front seat!"
i think of the pets that used to own the yard and the cat who begged for food.
i remember the walks through my back yard to your house, sneaking in though i knew where the key was. that key was always there for me to use..
I forget the memories until i'm with you and we're in the kitchen we've both known for years, with the food that was always there..
we perform this ritual every time we come home..
only now we think harder because we know the memories in this space are soon to be occupied by strangers and those moments will have to live inside of us...
