Beaver Returns Home ~ Written by June Posted by:Sally--Thursday, July 07, 2011

The time I have been waiting for..........Beaver is finally home after doing a stint at a rehabilitation facility. Actually multiple facilities but I digress. And I suppose longer than a ‘stint’—16 months, but who’s counting?

It’s so funny, I’ve cried so many tears for things lost while the Beaver was away; his presence in the home, graduations, celebrations, holidays, birthdays, births, and deaths. Now the little scamp is back home and I am still crying! "Why are you doing this, June?" I ask myself. I listened for an answer but only heard some rap music playing—loudly. Was this the response I was waiting for?

The first 30 days of Beaver’s return home I will fondly remember as the Super Glue days. Wherever Beaver went so did I. Wherever I went, so did the Beaver. Boy, that was some fun! A true bonding experience.

We’ve now rolled into the second component of our new and improved lives. This is the "June releases the reins a bit" phase. Beaver gets to go out by himself. I now have to ‘trust’ that "people, places, and things" are behind us. [I say ‘us’ because this is a team effort.] Beaver’s freedom is my trip down the rabbit hole. Every comment has to be processed, analyzed, and then processed again before it comes out of my mouth. Except for the other night.

Little Beaver comes out of his room and approached the couch where I was reading. "What the h-ll did you do to your lip?!?" June screamed. "I pierced my lip!" Beaver said with a smile. That silly little Beaver thought it would be funny to put magnets on the inside and outside bottom lip to give him the "snake bite" look. I had forgotten how fast I can move when put to the test. "I’ll rip those out of your lip if you ever try that Beaver" June replies. Now, thinking back-- processing, analyzing, and processing again—I wouldn’t change a word of it.

Beaver turns 18 next week. Joy, joy, joy! Beaver is getting a tattoo for his birthday present to himself. What could it possibly be? Would it be a heart with Mother in it? Or a little star, or moon? "Mom, guess what I’m getting on my back? It’s going to be ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ but instead of monkeys it’s going to be skulls!! Won’t that be cool? For the see no evil, there will be a knife gouging out an eyeball, and hear no evil will be a knife through the ears. And Jed [the tattoo artist] is going to make it mechanical looking, and it will look like they’re popping right out of my back! Awesome!!" said Beaver excitedly. "And it’s only going to cost $600! I am getting a great deal because he’s doing this special for me ‘cause I know him from NA and it’s my birthday and everything. I’m going to make sure I’m not scheduled to work on my birthday so I can get this done!"

And, once again, down the rabbit hole I go.
Perhaps I should change my name to Alice.