The month of ghosts

I hate August.

For most people, August is pretty good. It's a big vacation month and in Minnesota it is the time of the State Fair, which is always a time of great joy and gastrointestinal excess. It's one of the nicest months in Minnesota, with warm days and comfortable nights. Most people I know like August and it's perfectly reasonable. There's a lot to like.

But not me. I hate August.

In my family, August is the Month of Ghosts. The reason for that? My father passed away nearly 25 years ago, on August 30, 1990, and my mother passed away on August 14, 2000. Even as those events pass further back into the miasma of time, they still hurt.

The funny thing is, this month should be pretty good. I am on the way to Wisconsin today to see my three best friends from childhood, one of whom I haven't seen in 15 years. We'll have a great time, I'm sure, and I am eager to catch up. As a family, we'll have a few more events coming as well. Sometimes it's tempting to think you can take the approach that this song suggests (about September, but never mind that). But that's not how you deal with ghosts. The best way to fight the Month of Ghosts is by adding good memories. And that starts today.