Do You Know How Much Easier?

“Do you know how much easier” he said, “it would have been to get that photo on the blog if Dad were still here?”

“Yes, Jona” I replied, “It would have been much easier” (My husband was a computer-geek-by-trade, and I had difficulty converting the tif. file to a jpeg)

“Do you know how much easier” he continued “everything would be if Dad were still here?”

“Yes, Jona” I replied again, “It would be much easier”

He then launched into a discussion of what would be easier, including why and how. We discussed this together for a while, and then I thought we had moved on. Jonathon, however, thought different. He thought it was time for a recap of all of the things that would be better if Dad were still here. These are just a few of his major points:

“Dad made more money than you do, Mom – a LOT more.”
(answering only in my head now. Yes, Jona)
“Life would be easier – getting nice clothes, groceries, school supplies”
(Yes, Jona)
"We didn't used to go to thrift stores, did we Mom?"
(No, Jona)
“We used to go on vacations and everything”
(Yes, Jona – gee, I hope he’s planning on stopping sometime soon)
“And we had a bigger house. Way bigger”
(Yes, Jona)
“And there would be money for soccer camp and EVERYTHING”
(Yes, Jona)
“And you could have nice things too”
(Yes, Jona – nope, he’s not planning on stopping anytime soon)
“Dad was better at fixing things too, Mom”
(Yes, Jona – I might just scream any minute now)
“A lot of things around here would be fixed if you had died and he were here”
(Yes, Jona)

This continued on for a while, and then the inevitable happened. I lost it! Exasperated, I finally looked at him and said:

“Do you know what else would have happened if I had died and he were the one left here with you?”

“No, Mom, what” Jona asked wide-eyed.

“YOU’D HAVE STARVED TO DEATH – THE MAN COULDN’T COOK WORTH A DAMN!”
“Oh, Mom” Jona sighed.

Conversation ended.