Okay, the good news: my parents are here and my sister, brother-in-law, two nephews, and two other extra-curricular relatives are coming on Monday.

The bad news...

Our fish, Santiago, died yesterday. And his empty bowl is sitting there on the counter...all...empty. One of my most vivid memories of living in Atlanta is of watching Santiago swim (at that time, he was living in a vase--the vase the purple roses John gave me for Valentine's Day had come in), under the lamp that belonged to my grandmother, with the light coming through his red and blue fins like a stained glass window...while I sat there, on the couch, depressed and maladjusted. He traveled through: Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, and California. John had even taught him to jump out of the water for his food. He was our friend. And now he's gone. We'll miss him.

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