Change of Plans

I didn't get very far in my cleaning of the basement. I got sidetracked trying to look for the deed to the house (her mom needed this now, less the house go into probate). And this required me to put myself in the mind of Cindy to determine where this might be. Knowing Cindy, this could have been anywhere--she never filed anything, yet she saved every piece of paper in random places from 1985 and on. I didn't even know what I was looking for. I had no idea if a deed was something you frame, something printed on old tyme yellow parchment, something one would put in a safety deposit box. I'd never actually seen one before. I thought for a second about calling friends to ask them where they store their deeds, but I figured I would get very common sense answers, so I decided to instead search random places.

I started my search in the kitchen since that is where the blueprints to the house were (don't ask). No luck. I did however find a love note I had written her in the first month of our courtship that she had annotated with her own thoughts. I'd never known anyone to hand write their own comments on a love note addressed to them. But, Cindy was a unique person. I remained on the floor of the kitchen for a while until the cat came by and I realized I needed to feed him. I then checked a few other places before pulling down this random unmarked box in a closet in one of the guest bedrooms. Inside the box were old papers from the year 2000, a few books (She's Come Undone, Self-Guided European Cities, Snow Falling on Cedars), one sock, a bunch of old receipts, an instruction manual for a slow cooker, and oh yes, the deed to the house. The deed itself was in a fairly plain, unmarked envelope. It would have taken anyone else months to unearth this very important piece of paper.

So, is today a good day? Well, it's good that I found the deed. But, as for me, it's a really tough day. And one in which I continue to move in slow motion. I promised Tanya that I wouldn't stay on the floor. And I didn't (for her).