"Come with Mommy, boys, " I suggested cheerfully, "Let's go pick up some costumes!"
As soon as we rang the doorbell, we could hear barking. A man opened the door with a smile, beside him was a shaggy black dog. I looked at the man and thought, "Oooh - an older gentleman, and handsome, too!"
I hadn't ever met Elizabeth's husband. They have twin boys who are about a year older than my boys. She'd posted on my twins club's marketplace that she had a couple of (new in box) costumes to sell. We'd emailed back and forth and decided that I could swing by to pick up the costumes that afternoon.
She'd sent me directions, "Go around one curve to the left, then another curve to the right." The homes in her complex looked more or less alike, but I'd spotted the house number right away.
The friendly man and the friendly dog stepped aside, motioning us in. While we petted the dog, I made small talk asked the man if his children were still into dressing up. He shook his head and laughed. We introduced ourselves. "Is Elizabeth here?" I asked. "Oh, yes, here she comes, " he said, but when I turned to look at Elizabeth, I suddenly felt lost.
Had it been a different Elizabeth I'd been corresponding with? Had I answered the wrong marketplace ad? I was confused. She'd changed so much!
"Hi, I...um...are you the Elizabeth who is selling the costumes?" I asked, embarrassed.
"Uh, no..." she said, disappointed. She had a huge smile for the boys.
I explained to her why we were there.
"I think we're at the wrong house. Same house number, but different street. I'm terribly sorry!"
"Oh, well let me see if I can help you. There's a family who just moved in next door, maybe..." she offered. stepping outside with us.
"Kids are always stopping by to say hi, " she explained.
She was so nice. I like to think she'd have enjoyed it if we did come in. She'd have let my boys play with the dog while she offered me some tea. Perhaps she and her husband have grown children who are away at college.
I thanked her and apologized once more. My boys and I piled into the car, backtracked, and this time, followed all the right curves in the road and found the right Elizabeth, her twin boys behind her in the living room. She wasn't nearly as welcoming as her neighbors, but heck, we weren't necessarily there to make friends (though I'm usually up for it!).
My boys spent the remainder of the day putting on and taking off their new costumes. Once in a while, they'd stop and ask me, "Why did we go to the wrong house, Mommy?" "Because Mommy is still sleep deprived got lost, " I'd admit. And we'd all laugh.
Original Chalk and Cheese Chronicles blog post.
My mother-in-law passed away a year ago yesterday. I miss her. She passed away just weeks into her retirement, her former life packed away in boxes in anticipation of happy move to a new home in a desert town. We'd planned to visit her soon, hoping to sample her life while scary mutant jackrabbits raced in the background. I know she enjoyed hearing me talk about my boys and she put up with a bit of bragging which I unleashed because, well, you can only brag about your kids to grandma. She was intellectual and funny, and I loved her cooking. Sometimes I think she's still here, that I can pick up my 6 year old cell phone and ring her number and reach her, as I always did on that phone. My boys remember her, they do. And as that memory starts to fade, they need not look any farther than at their own father to catch a glimpse of Grammy Teddi. She's there, in his expressions, in his salt and pepper hair and partly, in his outlook on life. It's uncanny at times. "Whoa, that's your mom!" I say. 
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