Ob-La-Di

June 24, 2009

They sat at a school-cafeteria table, the two of them, faces from my past. There were four huge pizzas in front of them; the stone-oven baked kind with air pockets bubbling up on the edges of the dusty crust, giant pieces of pepperoni on a couple of them. I sat down across the table from them. They looked at each other with mischievous, excited grins on their faces. "Should we tell her why I'm eating so much now?" the one asked the other. "I'm pregnant!" she said as she stood up and showed me how big she had gotten. I smiled.

"Oh I'm so happy for you. That is such exciting news." I was there with them both emotionally. I really was. I was happy with them, without faking it.

But then she started talking. She showed me the soft pink yarn that she was using to make tiny little baby booties for the little girl growing inside her. And I started sobbing. "No! I can't listen to this! I can't!" I didn't even try to explain my outburst. I didn't know if they knew what I had been through, and I didn't care. I just needed to get out of there, so I took off. Someone will just have to explain it to them, I thought.

As I was remembering it all Paul was singing "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da."

Yeah Paul, it does go on. And Jeremy and Abby jones . . .