The Volvo

I ran into the 'loft lady' the other day while shopping.  She actually recognized Sofie first, then me.  We hugged like we were old friends, exchanged some small talk, and then moved on.  I wondered what she could possibly be buying.  She is the most minimal of minimalists.  There were like 12 things in her loft.  I always wondered what her housekeeper actually did when she cleaned.  There was a couch, a chair, and a desk with almost nothing on it.  She had great taste, and some beautiful paintings on the wall.  Not many, but they were well-placed and original.  She also drove a beautiful, new, convertible Volvo.  The roof was totally motorized, and she was really proud of it.  It was pretty impressive.  My parents were visiting once, and we were all down in the parking garage (which was pretty tough to maneuver through due to all the concrete support beams) and I asked her if she would show my parents how the top lifted off.  She gladly obliged.

It was some time later that we happened to be walking out of our apartments at exactly the same time, and we started talking and she asked me if I had any other children (besides Sofie and Krystal).   I told her no, we had infertility problems, and we were lucky to even have had Sofie.  She then said, "Well, God answered your prayers.  You wanted a baby badly, and now you will always be caring for a baby."

There are comments people will make to you that hurt, yet you can still somehow manage a response or at least clarify what it is they meant.  And there are those comments that make your breath stop, your heart pause, and your left ventricle fill to the point of exploding, before your aorta starts pumping blood again, and it appears you will, in fact, survive.  I didn't say a thing, couldn't say a thing.

A few weeks later I noticed she was driving a rental car.  When I saw her in the parking garage, I asked her what happened to her Volvo.  It was in the shop, she explained, because she had scraped it up against one of the beams while trying to park.

I was pretty okay with it.