abby and eli have - well, had - a chiminea. you know what a chiminea is, right? one of those fireplace/kiln sort of things that you can use in your backyard. or your front yard, if you prefer. or even your side yard. hell, the point of this story is not which part of the yard you use your chiminea in! sheesh!
anyway, so abby and eli have - well, had - a chiminea. it was there one minute and gone the next. well, broken the next.
before i tell you how it got broken (which isn't an exciting story, so don't hold your breath), let me tell you that it had a lot of sentimental value to abby. it was her dad's - before he passed. if you need a concrete symbol of love (which she didn't), a toasty chiminea around which you can gather with your family and friends and remember the wonderful bond you had with your father is probably about as close as you're gonna get. and so, for abby, this wasn't just a chiminea......this was love.
but what's also love is how it got broken. well, not how it got broken but who broke it - charlie.
charlie is the only child of abby's 5 children who is a total photocopy of her dad. when you look at charlie, it's hard not to say, "hey, david." that's how much they look alike. and so, it is only fitting that charlie is the one who broke his grandpa's chiminea.
he didn't mean to do it, of course. it was an accident. he was driving his little cozy coupe car out on the patio and the chiminea was in his way. being the independent guy that he is - and not knowing how much chimineas weigh - he "parked" the cozy coupe, hopped out, and proceeded to clear the roadway of the interfering chiminea.
oops.
and so, last night, we gathered up the remains of the chiminea and laid it to its final rest. not unlike what we had done with abby's dad almost 4 years ago now.
abby's sad about it, but i don't think too sad. after all, the chiminea may be gone and her dad may be gone,
but,
charlie's still here.
:)
