Maggie and her mom arrived about 4PM-ish and Maggie looked bad. She barely slurped upstairs into the bathtub where she sat silently for maybe two hours. Next, bed rest. I don’t think she got out of bed until well past 6PM. We camped out in front of the TV for the evening. It was relaxing but not entirely pleasant. She was feeling pretty foul and I wasn’t feeling too hot myself for some reason. But despite how bad either of us felt, it sure was nice to look across the couch and see her face.

We rented the movie called “The Pursuit of Happiness.” As its title slightly alludes, it’s not a pick-me-up. I thought it was tongue-in-cheek and expected light comedy, maybe even a love story. Boy was I mistaken! About midway through I thought I was just about done. Then it got worse. But if ever there was a need for a movie about the undying human spirit, now’s the time. And I’m a better person because I watched it. Just don’t be surprised when miserable thoughts hijack your brain if you watch it. Geesh. “__Pursuit__ of Happiness” as in, “Not Happy Yet” or “Damn, There Goes My Happiness Around the Corner” or “Crap, Why Me?” Otherwise I guess it would have just been called “Happiness.”

We turned in early after yet another bath. But sleep would come easy for neither of us. Maggie tossed and turned and was just plain miserable throughout the night. She got out of bed at three of four times to lay on the floor. I wasn’t doing much better but I can’t complain too much. My issue is allergies and a quite sore throat along with some wonderful nighttime heartburn. Yuck. Tonight will be better. Maggie thinks she’s improved. I haven’t but I intend to nab one of her sleeping pills along with some allergy medicine before I hit the sheets. The morning will bring bright eyes to both of us.

Tonight has been fairly lazy. Maggie alternated bed time with bath time pretty much all day. We hit a party with some old friends this evening which brought back a lot of memories of “the way it was before.” It’s easy to get distracted by the glitter of the past. We had fun though but when it was time, we took our exit as one of the first to leave. And Maggie’s back in the bath. She’s happy there, as happy as she can be.

If I could I’d build her a huge bathtub made of stone and glass that always ran hot and served fresh-brewed mint tea from a winding silver spout that would climb down over the lip of the tub so she could merely adjust her mug and, in an instant, it would be filled. The towels would be too fluffy to fold and would thirst for the water from her skin, drying her quickly so she never got cold. When she was done it would lift her up, lay her gently down onto her bed, and tuck her in for another happy nap, never requiring from her even an ounce of effort.

If I could, I’d do a lot of things. Like the glittery past, it’s easy to get distracted on what I could do if… That’s a slippery place to stand. Instead, I think I’ll stick to what I can do. I think I’ll go tell her I love her right now.