Waiting for them

My dad loved aliens, until they showed up. His friends would say they were “not religious, but spiritual”. Dad wouldn’t even go that far. His love of aliens was based on the firm belief that they were physical, corporeal beings, “just like you and me”, he repeated, “but probably better.” After Mom died, he got a lot out of the idea of there being someone else out there, even if he didn’t think there was any beyond. …