mine?” she asked.
“You had some of the same things, like take a road trip with my bestie. And, of course, marry Butch.”
Shonna laughed. “Good old Butch.”
“Do you ever think about him?” I asked. “Do you ever wonder what life would’ve been like if you had married him instead of Roger?”
Shonna sighed. “I used to a lot when I was younger, especially when Roger and I were having problems. But not so much any more. Now, when we fight, I just think how nice it would be to be single again.”
“Watch what you wish for,” I cautioned. “Being single is tough and lonely.”
“I know. I know. But tough and lonely might be better than miserable. Anyway, how about you? Ever think about Jake?”
“I have off and on over the years. Like you, whenever Mike and I would get into a big fight I’d think about Jake, who always had a gentleness about him that was comforting. I’d think Jake would’ve never done this or Jake would’ve never done that.”
I told Shonna how I’d been thinking about Jake since finding the list. “I was just about to Google his name. Maybe he’s on Facebook.”
“Try LinkedIn, too,” Shonna said.
“Good idea. Sometimes I wish I could go back to those years and relive them, you know? I mean, think if we’d known then what we know now. I might’ve done things differently. Scratch that. I definitely would’ve done things differently.”
“Like what? Not marry Mike?”
“I can’t say that. I mean, we had kids together and Tory and David have always been my world. And not all of the years were bad. Some were really great, actually. And I did love him once. Sometimes I think about what happened to us and I don’t even remember when it started to go bad. It was gradual, sort of like an eroding beach; by the time you notice the result of all the waves and currents removing the sand, there’s only a small strip left. And Mike and I just weren’t able to reclaim the beach, so to speak.”
“Sounds exactly what Roger and I are going through. Trying to bring back the sand that thundering storm waves have carried away definitely isn’t easy.”
I poured myself a cup of coffee. “We need to go on a road trip, get away from it all.”
“We definitely should.”
Suddenly I was stabbed by the reality of what I might be facing: The Big C. “That is, if I don’t have cancer.”
“Stop it,” Shonna shouted. “Think only positive thoughts. And if by some chance you do have breast cancer, we’ll go when you’re better.”
“Think Roger would let you go?” I poured some cream into my coffee and stirred it.
“Hey, he better not say a word. All those golf trips he takes with the guys.”
“You do have a point.”
“Damn right I do.”
“Since it will take some time to plan, I need to figure out which item on the list I’m going to tackle first.”
“Whoa! Back up, sister. You’re going to do the list?”
“Uh, yeah. That’s what I was thinking. I need to take charge of my life. I realized when I found the list that old dreams don’t have to die. Now that both kids are on their own I can do what I want, live where I want, become what I want. For the last twenty-four years, my life has revolved around them. Not that I’m complaining. Like I said, Tory and David are the best things that ever happened to me. But now I’m truly on my own. Even Mom and Dad are leaving me.”
“You have Muffin.”
I laughed. “Yeah, and she probably won’t be around much longer.”
“So, which item are you going to tackle first?” Shonna asked.
“Not sure. Do I tackle them in the order I wrote them? Or write the goals on slips of paper, put them in a basket and pull one at a time?”
“You could just use a random number-finder online. They’re really easy to use. First, number your list. Then type in a minimum and maximum number and hit generate. Tackle the goal that corresponds to that number.”
“Good idea. Much easier and, if I don’t like the number, I can keep hitting the generate button.”
Shonna laughed. “That’s what I’d totally do.”
“I was thinking about starting with Run a marathon, though.”
I heard Shonna laugh. “This I have to see. The last time you ran more than a mile you had braces and wore your hair in pigtails!”
“Maybe we should do it together.”
“No way, sister! I don’t like sweating. Roger’s been bugging me to learn how to play golf and I told him trying to get a walnut-sized ball to go into a hole isn’t my idea of fun.”
I sipped my coffee. “I agree. Golf is boring. Changing subject, how are the kids?”
“Jason just got his driver’s permit and I’m freaking out big time. I told Roger he has to teach him. I took him driving the other day and he damn near got us killed when he went to change lanes and almost hit a car. Guess the car was in his blind spot and he didn’t see it.”
“Yikes!”
“Yikes is right. My heart hasn’t raced like that since taking a Black Beauty during finals week in college.”
I laughed. “And how’s Maggie?”
“Full of raging hormones! I swear she has a split personality. One minute she’s the nice sweet child I remember and the next a total bitch. And dealing with all of the teenage drama is driving me insane. This girl won’t be friends with that girl because that girl did something to another girl. Ugh! It’s ridiculous!”
“Hang in there. It does get better, promise.”
“I just can’t believe how mean thirteen-year-olds can be. The other day Maggie came home from school crying because one of her friends made fun of her in gym class. Something about her slipping on the balance beam. We were never that mean, were we?”
“No. I definitely think girls are meaner today. I remember when Tory was in high school. I couldn’t wait until she graduated. One girl in particular was a real troublemaker. She started a rumor about Tory, telling everyone she had herpes.”
“That’s terrible.”
“Yes. Tory cried for days and refused to go to school. I met with the principal and said that if this student didn’t stop harassing Tory, he’d be hearing from my lawyer.”
“So what happened?”
“The harassment stopped and the girl apologized to Tory and told everyone she’d lied. But what a mess! It’s one of the reasons Tory became
