Thankfully, only rarely.
You’re not sure where things went south but it becomes increasingly evident there are eggshells under your feet.
No light breezy nonsense. No smile or knowing glance across the room. In fact, barely any glances, save the wary kind where you launch a visual dagger to confirm you still recognize the person you’ve been living with for decades.
Short answers and annoyance are the order of the day. After a time it’s hard to recall who was grouchy first. It’s a very contagious attitude. Being snapped at makes a person…well…snappy.
So you think back. Retrace your steps. Breakfast seemed okay….. And then?
Is it just a personal foul mood?
What did you say?
Did you subconsciously do something stupid?
You wrack your brain. You’re not insensitive, but if you’re being honest, you can be fairly oblivious sometimes.
The silence. The lack of words. Practically a jackhammer volume.
The accusing creak of the floor. The smug hum of the refrigerator. The shocking decibels of a throat cleared shines a searchlight on the proverbial elephant thundering around the room. Aha! Their voice DOES work.
To be fair, it’s rather miraculous two people so diametrically opposite…so pitiably human (and with such complicated emotional wiring) can cohabitate successfully at all.
Some days are like that.
And there’s the rub.
Of all the phrases an elder lobs, “This too shall pass” is the truest and most exasperating.
Because despite the seductive desire to scream your frustration using all the reserved gusto of the words you’ve been swallowing in a warfare of silence ALL FREAKING DAY…and the overwhelming urge (you now barely squelch) to throw the dishes, ONE BY CRASHING ONE- against the wall…those prophetic elders are correct.
It will.
Pass.
And you will need your dishes.
For another companionable breakfast.
Probably tomorrow.
