Kickass, the doorstop dog, joined the keeper on a recent day as he—the keeper watched emergency vehicles—ambulances and law enforcement patrol cars, assemble around a neighboring house several blocks away where a 69 year old occupant had fallen in his driveway while spreading ice melting material. A pre-existing condition of brain protection fragility meant that when the neighbor fell and hit his head on the ice, his death was almost immediate. While the keeper did not know the neighbor personally, the yard and driveway where the neighbor died is in plain view from where the keeper sits and stares at and around a computer screen. It was only days later that the keeper learned the details—from the neighbor’s granddaughter who lives in the house with her grandparents and works as a hair dresser in Madison. As Krista snipped at the keeper’s hair, she related the particulars of the tragic event and talked about what it meant to her “Granny” and herself. Krista said she and Granny—married to her suddenly deceased husband for 44 years, would be moving to another city for a “fresh start.” There have been other family deaths while her grandma lived in her Mazomanie house, Krista said, and she—Granny, needs to get away. “That’s my mission,” Krista said, “to get Granny in a new place with a new life.” The winter of 2019 moves on, leaving a sad but loving trail. (See billstokesauthor.com for more Kickass and news of the novel Margaret’s War)
