It has been a terrible week. I went to London for the first time. I saw my mother-in-law for the last time. I discovered how much of modern life depends on having my cell phone. I hope to post more about all that, but I am demonstrably not very good at following through on "I'll post about that later."

One afternoon, Cattitude and I went out in search of a cell phone. We left Redbird in the hospital room where her mom lay gasping for breath, too weak to sit up by herself. It would have been better for one of us to stay with Redbird, but none of us trusted my ability to find the store and find my way back to the hospital, especially with no map or way to call an Uber.

Cattitude has long legs. For decades, he has walked behind our hobbit, moderating his pace. It unsettles him that I need him to walk in front, because I have no sense of direction (and can't read a map and a street sign with the same glasses.) And I want the option of hiding behind him in case of strobes. Anyway, he worries about outpacing me or otherwise leaving me behind. So I said, "Turtle here. Not lost yet."
And a block later, "Turtle here. Not lost yet." Good to know.
And later on, "Turtle here. Not lost yet."

We found a place to buy a phone and found our way back to Redbird and her mom. We all talked about how much we loved one another. Now she's gone. We came home so Vicki could do the rest of sitting shiva not in London.

Turtle here. Not lost yet.