My wife has been gone for a week. I miss her. The kids miss her. The dog Goldie misses Mommy so much I found her hitchhiking to find a new family. On the second day as we all came around to the reality of Mommy is actually gone, the cereal ran low (since that’s all I know how to make), and the lawn started to die (since she programs the sprinklers and I can’t find the panel), I wiped the tears away as I sent each child to school. Not their tears – mine. And the dog’s. The house quiet, I went to the restroom and realized as I walked out: I set the seat down! Hmm. For what purpose? She’s not here. No reason to do that now. I went back into the restroom and defiantly put the seat up! Kind of silly, but it felt liberating, and a little rebellious. No seat in this house remains up, but now the master bedroom restroom gets the bachelor pad experience. Proudly, I returned to my office and began to work. Devoutly, I pressed forth and could make little progress. Oddly, I could not stop thinking about what I had done!