“COME WITH ME!”

As you can see, I'm the leader.

These are the words I fear most: “Come with me!” When spoken by TLW (The Little Woman), they strike fear into my heart: it usually means she wants me to do something I probably don’t want to do. Retirement has taken its toll, and the less I need to do, the more I enjoy my retirement.

I follow, not because I’m afraid of her, but because I better! She leads me to the first landing of the stairway and stops at the alarm.

“Now this is the alarm and here is what I need you to do when you go to the doctor tomorrow.”

This is getting interesting, how does the doctor visit and setting an alarm come together? She elaborates…

The object in question

“When you go to the doctor tomorrow, set the alarm so we can test that it works.”

This is frightening because it makes sense and I understand it! I am now interested.

“We have to go to California, and I want to make sure that the alarm is functioning.” (She never worries if I’m functioning or not.)

"Now this is the sensor, (pointing to it) that tells us there is movement in the house, andthisgreenlighthastobesteadyandnonumbersblinkingaswellasthegreenlight.”

“Huh?”

“You got that?”

“Huh?”

This speaks for itself

In her best ‘I got a stupid kid on my hands’ look, she begins again. (My dad had that look on his face a lot, that is how I recognize it)

I stop her cold and tell her what I will do instead. It actually is the same thing she wants. This causes her to stop moving her jaw long enough for it to drop.

“Oh! You DO understand!”

“Nah, just a wild guess and a fear you would repeat it again.”