Fall

Dear Lorenzo:

It's finally Fall.

Last week we were hit with a heatwave.  It was hot enough for us to keep the windows closed and the air conditioner on all day.  Hot enough for me to sleep under just one comforter instead of the three you always complained about. Hot enough that I began to seriously wonder whether or not I was going through the Change.

But after a week of that hellfire, Fall has finally arrived. Football season is back in full swing, Halloween decorations abound, and pumpkin flavored everything has invaded both Dunkins and Starbucks.

You loved Fall; it was your favorite season. I hated Fall because it seemed little more than a precursor to the cold. I remember the first time you came to visit me; it was Fall 2007 and you refused to sleep under my many blankets and comforters. "How can you sleep like this?" You asked. "I can't sleep any other way" I replied but you ignored my pleas and threw all but one blanket on the floor. "Don't worry" you insisted, "I've got you, I'll keep you warm."

And that's what you did for almost 10 years.

I took Amira to hip hop class today. Afterwards, we went to lunch at the Chicago Diner, then to Target to get her the slime she's been begging for for the last three months. By the time we got home it was early evening and when I went to grab my robe from the radiator where I'd last flung it, I was shocked to see that the heat was on. Apparently, the temperature in my bedroom had dipped so low that the heat had automatically kicked on. In lieu of the baggy shorts I wore all summer long, I'm currently wearing one of your old Bob Marley shirts, pajama pants, winter socks and my robe. In a moment, I'll make myself a cup of warm tea before getting more blankets for my bed.

Fall has just begun and I'm already feeling the cold.

I wish you were still here to keep me warm.