Today....

Today, as near I could figure (and which I've always marked) would have been Marla's 18th birthday.

We recently came back from a week away. It was strange. After all the dogs and the two cats greeted us, after all the stuff had been put away, there was silence. No Marla yowling, "Where did you go? Where did you go? And what did you bring Marla?"

I don't like the silence sometimes. Even if Marla wasn't yowling, there was a presence that you knew was there.

I think it was Drey who once told Marla, "I miss my people."

And Marla responded, "Oh, don't worry. People go to work. People go food shopping. Your people just went for a vacation, they'll be back. They always come back."

Drey countered, "What if they never come back, Marla?" Which led to the two of them sitting wide-eyed at the front window waiting for their respective people.