Thursday Again

Thursday Again

     Last night Dad and I took every single thing out of his truck; every tool, every piece of wood, every scrap of paper, every piece of garbage and it took forever. It took us so long  and we still hadn’t found Mama’s letter for me. I was so tired that I ended up letting Dad finish the job. I went off to bed feeling pretty sad and hopeless. I didn't even brush my teeth or put on my pyjamas. I just fell into bed. I had a good sleep though and didn't even mind when Dad woke me up at 6 o’clock this morning. He had an envelope in his hand and was smiling the biggest smile that I have seen on his face all week. It was my letter from Mama! Dad found it under his bed when he was looking for his shoes! I am feeling really excited right now. Now we know where she is. Or where she was! This is what it said:

Dear One,

I am feeling worn out these days and like I need a little refresher; I’ve got to recharge the old batteries, you know what I mean? I am going to spend a week at the retreat at Rosemary Heights, you know where I went for the hospice conference? I just need some quiet time, some peace to reconnect with myself and be the mother and wife that you two need and deserve. Be nice to Dad okay? He loves you so much, as much as I do and will need your help. There’s no phones allowed so we can’t be in touch but I will see you next weekend for sure. Love you always and forever, Mama xxoo

P.S. Don't forget to take your meds!

P.P.S. Seeing the nuns will make me smile...what makes you smile?

     It felt so good to hold something that Mama had written for me. For a minute I felt like my heart wasn't so heavy in my chest. But just for a minute. Now I knew where she was or where she had been. There was a beautiful old retreat at a place that was a nunnery. You know a place where nuns live. It was called The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd Home for Girls and Women but then they changed it to the Rosemary Heights Retreat Centre. Rosemary Heights! Like on the piece of paper that I found in the dryer. Mama had been there before for a conference and she had loved it because it was so peaceful. I remember that she said the grounds were lovely and the accommodations were simple but comfortable.

      Dad and I went over there right away to see where Mama was. We even took Red with us. When we got there there was only an old guy who smelled funny putting away chairs and sweeping the floor. His shirt had the name Bob on it, above the pocket. He said that the retreats only ran one week a month so there was nobody there now except him. We asked him if we could look around a bit and he said that it was private property but that he wouldn't stop us. He said to be careful and lock our car because there had been some cars vandalized in the past. I told him that our car was safe because our dog Red was inside and nobody would mess with her. We looked around a little and got the phone number of the lady who organized the retreats. Dad kept looking around hopefully like Mama was going to come around the corner at any moment. It made me sad. When we got outside to the parking lot Red was really glad to see us and so I let her out to have a pee. She ran off a little to get some privacy and Dad and I sat on a bench by the parking lot. Dad held my hand and I could tell that he was really worried but that he was trying to be calm for me. He does that sometimes. Anyway Red ran off a little past the blackberry vines and into the brush where the trees were and when I couldn't hear her collar jingling I called her back. She didn’t come right back so I asked Dad to whistle for her. She still didn't come so we took off into the woods to find her. I was saying bad words in my head because I was mad at Red; a lost dog was not what we needed right then. Dad and I ran for a bit. We could hear her but it sounded like she was chasing something. After a while Red stopped and ran back to meet us. Dad figured she had seen a deer. Anyway when we caught up to her, Dad gave her a pat and Red looked sorry so we headed back. It was kind of nice in the woods, just really tall maple trees and some cedars, like we have at home behind our place and for a moment I almost forgot why we were there. Red was panting and trying to be good and Dad and I were both relieved to have gotten her back. Just as we were getting back to the parking lot I saw something red under a pile of leaves and went to look at it. Dad yelled at me not to pick anything up because of the virus and stuff so I kicked at the leaves and saw that it was a wallet and it looked familiar, like Mama’s wallet. I yelled like crazy at Dad to come over and look and he picked it up with his bandana and it was Mama’s wallet, I was sure of it. Dad called the police right away and the guy he had spoken to told us to stay right where we were, that he was coming right over. It seemed like forever until they got there and Constable Dubois asked us a bunch of questions and told us that we should come down to the station so he could get some more information.

     We were at the station for a really long time again and they talked to Dad for a long time and me again for a shorter time. I think they wanted to make sure that our stories were the same, like they do on police shows on t.v. Anyway the Constable said that they were treating this as a missing persons case and would be making appropriate enquiries, whatever that means. By the time we got back to the car Red was going crazy so we grabbed some A&W drive-through and went home. I gave Red some of my fries. I was still scared but I felt a bit better because we had found a clue. Either Mama had lost her wallet or someone had stolen it but it was a clue.