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The People You Meet
Monday morning begins with hating the world. She’s not yet two, but this universal feeling makes its way to the very young on this particular late March Monday. Her rupturing gums, burdened by four new molars are bringing the agony. This 21-month old is screaming and flailing in my arms and I can’t seem to provide a smidgen of consolation this time…so I leave her melodramatically frozen in mid-tantrum on the matted floor, take a few deep breaths and walk over to the kitchen to pop my vitamins, which include a homeopathic patience-booster, called L-Theanine, found in green tea.
The rain is supposed to arrive in a few hours. I get the stroller, which she still fits for now, from the garage and bring it to the front. Step on the brake after arranging the fussy girl with her buckles and hat. Gloomy and windy with varieties of gray above. The older dog chooses to poop before we head off. Collect and deposit into trash. Into their harnesses and off we go.
Strolling is a misnomer when you have two dogs and hills to navigate. I’m used to it by now, and soon she’ll be walking beside us. Time moves quickly with a child. When we moved to this neighborhood, a seemingly 9 or 10 year-old girl would take her beagle on loops around the block. Now, she’s practically full-grown, maybe 5’6. That didn’t seem like five years ago at all.
