Gratefully, mother accepted the responsibility and began her duties as landlady. We were both intent upon disposing the estate in good order. I had not much energy to stay in Atlanta and renovate these encumbered properties. I longed to return to Martha’s Vineyard and a house of my own. I likewise missed my family and friends. Hopefully we could find some buyers to relieve us of Joe’s estate. Luckily, mother had her sister available to come down and stay with her while she directed this dispossession. Maybe because of the circumstances I had not found Atlanta to be a friendly city and felt need to return to a nurturing environment.
This would require me to load up my pickup with all the tool possessions I acquired or brought with me to perform the work and maintenance duties on Joe’s properties. It would likely take the rest of winter and most of spring to tie up the remnants of work I had already begun and leave the estate in a tight enough condition for mother to sell it. In the meantime, I made at least two trips north hauling my stuff. My stays there were brief, probably because I no longer required extensive respite and also, I had substantial work tidying up the estate. On my first journey northward, I experienced chest pains. The whole trip I worried and fell into a mild malaise that I may be falling ill with my own fatal illness. It was only while riding on the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard, did it occur to me I was not breathing properly. Quickly I intuited that stress was creating a tightness in my chest and forcing shallow breathing. Immediately, I began to focus on deep breathing. Almost at once, pain subsided, vitality restored, and stress was relieved. I garnered a sense that all would be well.
©
No comments:
Post a Comment