Mike's Journal: Day 1

April 6th 2016 - 9 Months Ago

I took the train into Boston that day. As usual. Crowded. Caught up on the news.

That morning there were some disturbing stories coming out of Korea. Starving emaciated North Koreans running directly at the DMZ. Triggering landmines. Getting shot down by their own army before they can get close. Fucked up. I had no idea what was going on there. The South was talking about mobilizing their forces - they had already taken out a couple of ships which headed into their waters.

As usual I was in meetings all day. Barely saw daylight let alone check my phone. I sent a message to Sarah around lunch. "Love you babe - how's the day going? We still good for 6:00 for dinner?" My parents were staying in Boston for a work trip just for the one night, flying back to Denver the next morning.

I've looked at my phone (yes - it's still with me) - I didn't really send much else that day. A joke with my guys. A couple more messages with Sarah following up. An email to my insurance company to confirm a change to my coverage. 

A pretty typical Wednesday in the spring. Or what passes for spring in Boston. 

Sarah drove in from her job out in Needham to meet us for dinner. It was damn cold so I took the 'Silver Line' (a bus Boston pretended was a subway line) back into the city from the World Trade Center. The news was getting worse. Some people had mentioned it at work but I hadn't had time to check. There were waves of N. Koreans running at the DMZ now. US troops had been mobilized. The news reports had no idea what was going on. A few photos of smoke in the trees at the DMZ. More ships had been sunk by the South. Some news outlets started posting speculation about what it could be - Kim Jong turning on his own people, biological weapons, mass starvation etc.

I met Sarah outside of the Charles Hotel before heading in for dinner with my parents. She looked gorgeous. Red sweater dress. Black coat. Long dark hair. We kissed and I wrapped my arm around her and we walked in together.

Dinner was good - the Rialto Restaurant. Five courses - the way they do it in Italy. A couple bottles of red wine. We talked life, politics. We covered North Korea but just to say how screwed up it all sounded. Speculated a little bit on what it could be. Meth. Disease. Civil war. No one knew much.

Sarah drove us home. I got an alert on my phone on the way - "China Closes Border with N. Korea." The story went on for a few paragraphs, but information was sparse. The border was officially closed anyway, but China was moving in troops. Screwed up, but a world away. 

We got home, had sex, watched some Netflix and went to bed.

I think that was the night Sarah got pregnant.