On Wednesday, my dad choked on applesauce that had his pills crushed up into it and, once again, required the Heimlich maneuver.* Not sure how you choke on mush to the point that you stop breathing, because, well, how on earth would mush block your airways? It’s mush. It squishes and gushes. It doesn’t block. But I guess my dad is special like that. Anyway, right about that time, the universe was giving S and I a little gift. We were looking for a mattress store and got lost in a part of town we never go to. We headed down a side road to do a U-turn, and came across this:

My dad, Nick, the train buff, would have loved this little place. Model trains galore. I got out of the car and started laughing and crying. I’m sure the owner thought we were bonkers, but I wasn’t up to explaining, so I bought a Chessie System ball cap and we went on our merry way. Sometimes the universe simultaneously bitch slaps you and tickles you, so you don’t really know how to react, but I’m choosing to take this as a gift and find comfort in it. Just knowing this little store is there makes me smile now.

*Side note: a customer recently informed me that it’s no longer called the “Heimlich maneuver.” Instead, it is called the “abdominal thrust.” But, let’s be honest, that just sounds dirty, and I really don’t want to imagine anything having to do with thrusting and my dad. So, I’m sticking with the Heimlich.