ERNIE AND ERNESTINA: The Writer, His Wife, and their Afterlife

Book One, Part Two, Chapter 46: Trick or Truth

A tall, old-fashioned scale — each weigh-in costs a dime, although Ernie and I found that a penny works, too — stands next to a gumball machine in the breezeway of our small neighborhood mall. Often, Ernie and I weighed ourselves on it.

Before his final cancer showed itself, Ernie took off his leather jacket and sometimes even his shoes, to weigh light. But after he began to feel bad, losing appetite and energy, he kept on his jacket so he’d weigh heavy.

That was Ernie, wanting to face Reality, but if Reality turned too grim, needing to find a way to trick himself. But was he really tricking himself?

Ernie held both trick and truth within him. He wanted to believe the trick, but he always knew the truth.