Day 107. All we leave behind. (17/4/19)

Left the car in town on Monday as I'd had a couple of drinks in the afternoon. Missed the garage by two minutes last night, so finally picked it up today.

I was in town for CityTalk, it being a Wednesday and my role on Wednesdays being to go up the tower and talk about literally anything that's happening and isn't legally difficult (ie no court cases), so I finished the show at the two o'clock news, sat round with a coffee having a gab for the first bit of the next show (the bit where you don't realise I'm still there and keeping very quiet) then headed to the now wonderfully unlocked car park.

And I knew that I hadn't made a mental note of which level we were on but I could visualise it, couldn't I?

No, I couldn't. Twenty minutes. Wandering the levels. A text to J. "Might have to buy a new car, can't find this one.". A call from J, think it was level 7, just as I found it.

Driving home in the sun (it's basically August in Bootle), 6 Music playing King James by Anderson Paak, a track that didn't make any sense to me when my mate shared it the other day on his tune a day post but suddenly sounded bloody magnificent in the sun. Soul tends to do that.

I was driving down Southport Road when I saw, out of the corner of my eye, a bloke walking into a side street to be greeted by what appeared to be his wife, son and daughter. He was stooping as I passed, ready to pick up his daughter who was running toward him with outstretched, lifted, arms.

And it made me think, in a fairly positive way though it may not sound that way immediately:

"You don't remember the point where picking up your kids stopped."

You don't. I know I've said this before but you don't remember the last time they needed picking up. You didn't remark on it, you couldn't, it's just that the next day they didn't need picking up. So you didn't pick them up. And that was it.

You don't remember the last time you read to them at night. Suddenly there's a night where you don't read to them and the not reading carries on and you didn't notice it happening.

You don't remember the last times.

And that's great. Who wants to remember things ending?

You just remember that it happened.

So, if your kids are still young enough and it's a sunny day and they want picking up, pick them up. It's not like you weren't going to pick them up anyway.

If they want you to read a story to them, read it. You weren't going to say no.

They may not be the last times but they'll be the times you remember.

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