In the second part of November, in the Marino Horvath's home, in the cool of the season... many things are happening, personal challenges, struggles, and growing up for everyone. Raquel has her own goals, like Livia and me, however, for her, an important chapter of her life is ending; high school. She is also getting ready for the big long jump into post-secondary education; she wants to be a game developer! It is scary for her as it is also for me but I have all confidence in her strength of character. I always remind her that she can still learn from her mother; "what would mom tell you in a similar situation, what do you think she would advise you". Keep her memory alive while continuing to learn from her. The same applies to me and I still learn from my wife.
Recently, Raquel had her graduation pictures taken. Yesterday, a catalog containing samples of the pictures arrived home. The next step is to order the pictures that we want. She looks beautiful in all of them. Christina would be proud of her little girl, she is growing so much!
While we were having dinner, Raquel reminded me that we have a deadline, November 24th, to order the pictures that we want. As a dad, I am swamped with things to do including my work, home, and the girls, and after everything is done take care of me, hence I told Raquel to login into the photography studio website, choose the pictures we want, and place the order. "Dad, I would need your credit card to pay for the items we want". I would trust Raquel with my credit card but decided to wait until tonight to complete the process together.
Then... at the end of yesterday, I went to sleep. Sometimes it is difficult to fall asleep for me, but my wife taught me to meditate and this works very well: control my breathing, breathe in, breathe out... relax. Lately, I have found that counting backward helps tremendously...
"100, 97, 94, 91, 88, 85, 82, 79, 76, 73, 70, 67... 64... 61... 67, no, no it is 58... what?"
... I opened my wallet to pay for Raquel's picture and discovered my missing credit card. "What! Oh, no!" After such tribulation, the first thing that came to my mind was to reach Christina on the phone.
Christina, I lost my credit card! I was going to pay for Raquel's pictures and discovered that it is missing!
Do not worry Jose, do you remember the last thing you paid for?
Oh, I think... the other night I took the girls to Earl's...
Let me log in to the bank, wait... yes, that is the last usage. I will cancel the card and order a new one.
Thank you, Christina! Thank you, love!
Do not worry Jose, it has been taken care of! I love you, Jose!
I love you too!
... then I woke up feeling so glad that I had lost my credit card; I talked to my wife and she fixed the problem for me!
“Tell me one last thing,” said Harry. “Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?”
Dumbledore beamed at him, and his voice sounded loud and strong in Harry’s ears even though the bright mist was descending again, obscuring his figure.
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter, and the Deathly Hallows
Colophon
Christina was such a force among us, such a source of inspiration. This post "Lost My Credit Card and Have Never Been So Happy" is based on a dream. I did not see Christina but heard her voice very clearly on my phone, in my ear, as if I was calling heaven where she is. The dream reminded me of Harry Potter, and The Deathly Hallows, and because of that association I felt subconsciously very happy: my dream happened in my head and of course, it is real. I have read this post over and over and found places for improvement. I think I like it better now.
I continue to miss my wife with all of my might.
