Jim suddenly sees himself—an old man in a leather vest sitting alone on a turquoise-colored couch in a Southwestern-style living room: stucco walls, wrought iron and reclaimed wood furniture set on terracotta tile. Even a cactus by the window and an old steer skull over the TV. Hell, Jim is from Gladwin, Michigan—what is he doing here?
He met Katie at Central Michigan University, where he ended up majoring in Finance and she dropped out to have Jason her junior year. Jim's modest career in accounting and Katie’s desire for warmer weather took them to northern Arizona a few years after Jason moved out. They were both 47 then.
Katie went all in on Arizona, got way into the Southwest stuff, filling the house with turquoise and dream-catchers and all that. She even started getting Jim to wear loose bolo ties on white blouses open at the neck and this leather vest. She spent $900 on this vest.
They grew old this way and Jim retired. She brought home a little white dog.
The crazy thing, Jim thinks, is he had hated all this—the décor, the vest, the fact that she spent $900 on this vest, the skull on the wall. Even the dog. Jim had hated a lot of things.
But she died three years ago, he misses her, and this is still who he is. He wears the vest almost every day, walks the little dog, and turquoise is his favorite color.
He still hates the wrought iron and reclaimed wood furniture. One piece of furniture she got right was this couch. He sleeps on it nightly. Hasn't needed to open the bedroom door in years.
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