Lise left 11 days ago, and yes, I have recovered. I’ve heard of mothers my age crying when their children leave, but I don’t do that. I grieve quietly a few days before Lise leaves. When the departure is imminent, I tell myself that she has airline tickets and has to go back to her normal life. It is also time for me to resume my single life. The photo shows her eating the last meal before leaving.

She was here for a full month, which is longer than usual. I got used to her being here. The day after she left, I kept expecting to see her appear or to hear her voice from another room. I reminded myself that she was home safely, and I wouldn’t selfishly pull her back.

Grandson David kept himself in the background while all the company was here. That was true of texting from daughter Kate and son John $, too. I appreciated being free to concentrate on people in the house. David and I went to Watami Noodle later in the week.

As a gift for me, one of Lise’s friends prepared dinner for us. She is noted for rice paper wraps in Denmark, and that is what we had here. She diced a number of vegetables, stirred together a peanut sauce, and provided fried chicken bites and cheese for the wraps. We each put them together for ourselves. What a treat that was! Days after, I discovered almost a whole head of cabbage neatly stored in the refrigerator, left from the wraps. I’m such a miser that I wouldn’t throw it away, even though I have very little use for cabbage. Whenever I hear that name, I think of school lunches when I was in grade school. For a few years, the cooks slapped a slab of raw cabbage on our plates at least once a week, and the teacher made sure we ate it. Lise and I did have another round of rice paper wraps. After she left, I cooked about half of the cabbage with apple and onion. It was edible, and David helped me eat it. While writing this, I decided I’ll make coleslaw with the remaining cabbage. I do like slaw!

A few days ago I took the innards of the family jigsaw puzzle apart, leaving the outer edge complete. I cheated, though. I put the left section of pieces on the left side of the puzzle, and the right pieces to the right. The middle was jumbled, but still in the middle of the puzzle. I have been delighted to work on it, putting in a few pieces a day. It’s so easy when I can see the pieces near where they belong, otherwise I’d be endlessly walking around the table. I may take it apart that way, putting the pieces in three separate plastic bags. I will definitely thank myself if I do that.