Dearest Rachel – I’ve mentioned this speech before, and I’m sure I’ll mention bits of it in future, but here it is as we first encountered it, for the benefit of those following us: The reason it came to mind today was because (in preparation for Jan’s visit today) I was going through more ofContinue reading “The Ledger”
Tag Archives: cleaning
Burninatin’
Dearest Rachel – Today’s letter was supposed to be about heading up to Camp Awana for a budget meeting, and my concerns about seeing the place for the first time since the accident. However, one of the guys I was to ride up there with got sick (again, probably just a cold rather than Covid,Continue reading “Burninatin’”
The Joy of Introductions
Dearest Rachel – At the risk of leaning hard against the fourth wall, I’m fully aware that you will never read a word of these letters; they are, rather, a way for me to memorialize you before the potential world that is the internet. Would that everyone had met you while you still walked theContinue reading “The Joy of Introductions”
Postpone-Mints
Dearest Rachel – So I came home early today from the ‘office’ (actually, I wasn’t at the office all that long today, since I was meeting Pastor Scott for lunch. It still takes some getting used to meeting him as a peer and friend, rather than in a pastor-to-congregant basis), because Jan warned me sheContinue reading “Postpone-Mints”
Convention Season
Dearest Rachel – Well, I’ve gone and done it. I’ve booked a room at the Marriott Coralville for the AnimeIowa weekend. Without your help. All by myself. Yeah… all by myself. All… by… myself. I remember you watching the feed on Twitch last year when AnimeCentral did its virtual convention. You were sobbing as youContinue reading “Convention Season”
Ghost in the Machine
Dearest Rachel – Jan can be a real hoot sometimes (and in so doing, she manages to take the most bitter edge off of everything we’ve been finding as we go through the house). Her happy dance when she finds hidden money – and there’s been a lot of it scattered throughout the place; you’veContinue reading “Ghost in the Machine”
The Things We Find
Dearest Rachel – Another day of cleaning the house today, honey Thought we might curve around the wall and dig out the television pedestal (and stash a pile of VHS tapes and DVDs in the process), but it seems Jan would rather we excavate the dining room table instead. Actually, that probably makes more sense.Continue reading “The Things We Find”
Cash in Cards
Dearest Rachel – I have to tell you, Jan has this thing about finding money in the houses she helps clean out and organize. She prides herself both on locating cash squirreled away in ridiculous places and in the fact that she lets her clients know about what she’s found. One of the first daysContinue reading “Cash in Cards”
Paranoia Over the Perfectly Normal
Dearest Rachel – So last night, I could feel the beginnings of a raw throat as I prepared for bed. And sure enough, this morning I woke up with a cough, sneezing and a runny nose. In a normal year, we would know that this would be the beginning of a garden variety 24-48 hourContinue reading “Paranoia Over the Perfectly Normal”
from Rachel: Absolution
Dearest Rachel – Normally, I would put one of your notes up on Sunday morning, as they mostly come from sermon notes and bible studies. But upon discovering this barely half an hour before Jan was to arrive this morning, I had to include it here and now: It’s as if, after the awful up-and-downContinue reading “from Rachel: Absolution”
Dumpster Dive
Dearest Rachel – There are times while she’s working that Jan encourages me to get out of the house. Now, sometimes it’s just the fact that I have appointments to keep, and she’s giving me an “I got this” type of reassurance. Other times, she senses I have work to do at the ‘office,’ andContinue reading “Dumpster Dive”
A Place in the Sun(room)
Dearest Rachel – As Jan and I move from room to room in our cleaning efforts, we’re starting to get into places where the trash is tangled up with the treasures. Notes and nothings mingle together, and aside from the sanctum sanctorum that is our bedroom, nowhere is more complicated in this respect than theContinue reading “A Place in the Sun(room)”
So Many Little Things
Dearest Rachel – You know I began this site as a form of therapy – a way to reach out to you despite knowing full well that you would see neither a word nor a pixel of it. It made a sort of bookending sense – we started our courtship by writing letters to eachContinue reading “So Many Little Things”
Jo’s Lament
Dearest Rachel – I got up early this morning, as I usually do, even on Saturdays. Got to be dressed before Chompers wakes up and demands breakfast, after all. But while waiting for him to wake up, I root around in one batch of papers or another, sifting through what should be kept, and whatContinue reading “Jo’s Lament”
The Fate of the TIE Fighter
Dearest Rachel – This probably shouldn’t come as any great surprise, honey, but as we’ve been going through the basement, we have been finding things from so far back that we just can’t hang on to anymore. Not just because of the mice – although that’s certainly contributed to the need to dispose of theseContinue reading “The Fate of the TIE Fighter”
Rodents Ruin Retention
Dearest Rachel – As Jan and I (mostly Jan – she had me going through your old school papers) continued to clear things out of the basement, Erin came up to me. Yes, she was here, on her vacation no less, doing a lot of the heavy lifting – at this rate, Jan’s likely toContinue reading “Rodents Ruin Retention”
Preservation
Dearest Rachel – Today was my third trip to Goodwill in the last seven days. All part of the deep cleaning process Jan has been putting me through. I mean, when were we going to get around to using these things, especially when we couldn’t even get to them? But we’ve made so much progress,Continue reading “Preservation”
A Ton of Memories
Dearest Rachel – I think these letters will, for a while, come more frequently, but be considerably shorter than originally intended. There’s no point in trying to put together the disjointed activity of a given day when the ups and downs are such that it would give someone whiplash. Best just to observe a singleContinue reading “A Ton of Memories”
Funny Papers
Dearest Rachel – As a fellow collector of comic books and authors, I understood what you were doing. Since we didn’t get the newspaper anymore (more on that later), you would, every time you went to visit your parents – and later, every time we would visit Twofeathers at your parents’ home – you wouldContinue reading “Funny Papers”
Kitchen Nightmare
Dearest Rachel – There’s a part of me that tells me I should be proud of the work that’s been done, and how well I have held up during the process. The folks say I’m doing the right thing. Jan and Scott have expressed their approval as to how well I’ve held up as weContinue reading “Kitchen Nightmare”
Gar(b)age Day
Dearest Rachel – I’m afraid this has been another one of those days in which you would not approve of what I’ve been doing. But honey, it had to be done. Jan was over again, along with her husband Scott. She promised not to charge double for the extra manpower – and indeed, Scott textedContinue reading “Gar(b)age Day”
“Sister Repellant”
Dearest Rachel – You can tell from the title what this is about, can’t you? Yep, I’d cleared a spot on the stove for ourselves, and I decided to cook last night. Black bean soup, one of our old favorites. Always welcome during the cold winter months. Wonder why I haven’t made it earlier… InContinue reading ““Sister Repellant””
Letters to Rachel 