The case of the mysteriously disappearing woman...
The Invisible Woman
The first time it happened I was out walking with your father. Both of us had put on a few extra pounds and we wanted to be proactive. We passed a guy I knew well. I'd grown-up beside him. We'd gone to school together.
"Hi, Archie," he called to your father. He usually had some kind of smart remark for me. This time nothing.
I called out, "Hey, Walter."
It was like he didn't even see me. People are odd is what I thought. Maybe it was my fault. Maybe I'd unknowingly upset him. Or maybe pretending he didn't see me was his latest tease. I tried not to let it bother me.
Later, at the grocery store, I noticed a new acquaintance. I wanted to say hello but couldn't remember her name. So I waited for her to acknowledge me. Nothing. I wrote it off to being preoccupied. Maybe she had invited people over and her brain was full planning the meal.
At the checkout, we saw Louise. She and I like to talk. It annoys your impatient father, but we don't care. I wait for him to shoot the breeze at the hardware store. This is my turn. But she looked right through me.
"Cash or credit?" she asked your father.
Feeling insulted, I let your father deal with her and we left.
This morning, at breakfast, you asked your father, "Hey, dad where's Mom?"--with a serious tone.
I'd just poured your juice. I'd just filled your plate with scrambled eggs and toast.
"Huh? I don't know." I know when Archie is teasing. He wasn't.
That's when I knew something must be up. I ran to the bathroom. I looked in the mirror expecting to see my reflection--crow's feet around my eyes, laugh lines around my mouth, a few stray hairs above my upper lip and under my chin. But... It wasn't that I didn't recognize myself. It was that there was nothing to identify. All I saw was the shower curtain. I'd become invisible.
More...
The mysterious case of the disappearing woman...
Next Sunday evening...
Book Review: The Princess Dolls
written by Ellen Schwartz
illustrated by Mariko Ando
Set in 1942, two girls--one Jewish-Canadian and the other Japanese-Canadian--bond over their mutual admiration for Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret
I'd just poured your juice. I'd just filled your plate with scrambled eggs and toast.
"Huh? I don't know." I know when Archie is teasing. He wasn't.
That's when I knew something must be up. I ran to the bathroom. I looked in the mirror expecting to see my reflection--crow's feet around my eyes, laugh lines around my mouth, a few stray hairs above my upper lip and under my chin. But... It wasn't that I didn't recognize myself. It was that there was nothing to identify. All I saw was the shower curtain. I'd become invisible.
More...
The mysterious case of the disappearing woman...
Next Sunday evening...
Book Review: The Princess Dolls
written by Ellen Schwartz
illustrated by Mariko Ando
Set in 1942, two girls--one Jewish-Canadian and the other Japanese-Canadian--bond over their mutual admiration for Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret
