She had been gone for a long time. I tend to notice things like that. She said hello. I couldn’t see her. Just a vague shape in the darkness. But I knew her. She told me she was gone because of a divorce. Disabled veterans like her husband get that a lot. But I understand that. We’re hard to live with. Especially in my case. I look back. I get it. Everything disabling me now was there long before I was in the Army. I can’t believe sometimes that I made it through basic training, but I did, and I’m damn proud of it.

She’s a good girl. Fine young lady. Was nice to me. I told her, “I don’t forget that.”

She was just dropping something off. I was still smoking when she returned to her car. I said, “You know, I’ve missed seeing you. I never even knew your name.”

“Elizabeth,” she said.

“That was my daughter’s name,” I said. And she asked for my name. I told her.

“That’s my brother’s name,” she said. An “Oh, wow” moment.

This woman is special, and I told her so. I said, “Be good to yourself, because you never know who you’re a somebody to. Well, you’re someone to me. I’ve missed seeing you. Take care, okay?”

She was touched. Hand to her heart, she said that was sweet of me.

But I told her true. She was missed. She was nice to me. I had been thinking of her but sensed it was best not to ask questions. I sensed a touchy situation. I knew her husband would not take them well. You live long enough, you learn when silence is best, a solution to a problem you shouldn’t get yourself into.

This is what I’ve been trying to say, especially in my Christmas post. Say the hard things. Tell the truth. Don’t be afraid to get hurt if you tell someone what they mean to you. If they hurt you, your conscience is clear, for you meant no harm, only good, and they will later regret having been hurtful. Don’t be afraid to give praise, to tell someone you’ve missed them. To tell anyone you love how you feel. To apologize. To appreciate them being in your life.

I don’t know how much time I have left. We rarely get to know. If you want people to know something, tell them. Tomorrow is never good enough. You might not get tomorrow.

I like myself tonight.

Just a little.