About 8:45, I heard Kate say, “Hey” and noticed that she was about to get out of bed. As I walked to her bedside, she had the happiest smile that I have seen in quite a while. She moved over so that I could sit on the edge of the bed, and we engaged in another conversation that lasted almost thirty minutes before she wanted to get up. She was unusually alert and very cheerful. She must have been lying awake for quite some time before calling me.
I told her it was a beautiful morning and mentioned the pink flowers of the Mexican Heather in a flower bed near the pool. She seemed to like hearing about them but was too comfortable lying in bed to get up to look. Then she started a conversation about everything that “they” (I’m not sure who) had done with “all this.” I thought she was talking about the people who built our house, but she started talking about our ancestors (my word, not hers) and the difference in our world today because of the sacrifices they made. She picked up on a theme that has been rather frequent in the last year or two, the equality of women. Her emphasis was less on the role that men have played in keeping women “in their place” than simply recognizing the contributions of women in history and the present. Some of that involved farming and the lives of both men and women when most families were farmers. We talked about education and the fact that women outnumber men in college and are a majority in a number of professions previously dominated by men. We both agreed that we are happy to be living in this particular time period, a view that seems to be typical of many people in every generation.
After a while, I asked if she wanted to get up or stay in bed a little longer. She was ready to get up. We went to Panera arriving about 9:30. She had a muffin and worked on her puzzles. I checked email and started on this post. A few minutes ago, she looked up at me. She looked surprised to see me and said, “Who are you?” I said, “I am Richard. I am your husband. She didn’t say anything but went back to her puzzle. I said, “You don’t look too excited that I am your husband. Should I have said, ‘I am your very good friend, Richard?’” She gave me a smile and said, “Yes.” I said, “Well, that’s who I am.” She said, “Good” and then went back to her puzzle.
