Today I slept until 7:20, latest I've slept since returning from my trip. Mike has mastered the challenge of dressing himself without assistance, and doing it without an angry outburst. Today he disturbed me very little and I immediately fell back into a deep slumber. In pre-stroke days, he got up hours before me, made coffee, fixed his own breakfast, took Gus for a walk; it was wonderful and I'm sorry it all came to such an abrupt end.

I've heard divorce described as a walking death. Saying good-bye to a spouse, a dream, a way of life, and starting over is harder than burying a spouse in the ground. With death there is closure, you grieve, you recover, you get on with your life. With divorce, it's harder, the dream lives on. The adjustment I've had to make with Mike is different. The independent Mike died, and a different Mike was resurrected in his place. Ah, well, what doesn't kill us, makes us stronger, they say. Sometimes I wonder.

The dogs and I walked yet another route today, but they didn't like it because we didn't pass any water close enough to drink. We did see a dead alligator about 2 feet long, a baby, I guess. Just glad we didn't see his mama.

Benji and family will be back in Memphis by tomorrow night. I'm glad they're not flying today, the date is 6/6/06. I'm too superstious to be comfortable with that. For some reason, I couldn't open the last movie he posted, maybe after I get DSL. I still haven't heard from Ricky or Mary Ann on my proposal for another week in Asheville this summer. Staying at the Bird's Nest in '04 was one of my favorite vacations. I sure would like to do it again, but that was with the other Mike.