Kidding... (but actually not kidding...!)*

(* with apologies to Mali for borrowing her line! lol) 

We went downtown to the hospital yesterday to visit BIL, who (as you all know by now) had a life-saving organ transplant last week (!) -- and also Older Nephew who (as donor) unfortunately has had a bit of a setback, but should be back on the road to recovery very soon. BIL has had some ups & downs over the past week & a half since the operation, especially on the mental front -- but yesterday, he was the most like his old self that I've seen in months!  He was ribbing dh (yep, definitely much more normal behaviour, lol...!).  And then, he started teasing ME -- about the number of photos of sunsets I post on my social media!  (He's obviously been spending a lot of time scrolling his phone while in bed, lol.)  

By way of explanation (and as I know I've mentioned here before), when we moved into this condo 7 years ago, we were delighted to realize that one unexpected bonus of our location and the floor-to-ceiling windows was some pretty spectacular sunset views. I've gotten into the habit of snapping a few photos when I notice them, and posting them on my social media accounts. It's not ALL that I post, but hardly a month goes by without me posting at least a couple of sunset photos. (And I'm certainly not the only person I know on social media who posts photos of sunsets!)

I knew he was teasing me, so I responded in kind -- I kept my tone light, but I said, "Hey! I don't have any cute pets or cute kids or cute grandkids to take photos of... sunsets are MY thing!" (And hey, if you don't like it, the mute button is your friend, right?)(I didn't say that last bit, but I was thinking it!)  There weren't any awkward pauses or anything like that, but the subject soon shifted to something else.

You know, even just a few years ago, I never would have responded like that. I probably would have just rolled my eyes and laughed it off and not really said anything in response -- and I certainly never would have alluded to/pointed out my lack of children or grandchildren compared to most people and what THEY post. Progress?? (25 years post-loss and 22 years after realizing I would remain permanently childless...!)