So This Is Christmas

 So this is Christmas...
Just a few days in a new apartment in the "big city"...
Far from family...
Just lost what was supposed to be my immediate family...
Even got informed by a twelve year old on Facebook,
"We're not your kids"...
I used to be his stepfather...
Yeah, that one stung a bit...
Another divorce...
My choices in love have been
Uninformed,
To say the least...
But that's okay...
Life chugs along...
Not depressed...
Not anxious...
A little empty,
But I have a support system spread out across the country...
Everything is still in boxes...
No brightly colored bows...
Lots of unpacking to do...
Her spies have been checking my profile...
Occasionally making shitty comments...
Terribly obvious stuff...
Have to work today...
Short shift...
4 hours...
The pilgrimage goes on...
The walk-about...
Something almost holy about it...
My armor is girded...
My resolution is steel, shining and well oiled...
The work to be done is getting done...
Methodical...
Calculated...
One step at a time...
No longer my homeland, I have to build one anew...
And that's okay...
It's become almost a habit...
A ritual...