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| Light |
Soon I was out the door, heading home. Then I remembered the felines were out of dry food. Sigh. This meant a stop at Publix. Luckily there is one right on my way home from work. I pulled into the parking lot and Silver Lining, a parking space right up front. Grabbed a cart and headed in. Grabbed a couple of things, might as well stock up so as to not have to go out once I was home, except for going to the doctor. In the pet food aisle I bumped into one of my co-workers who told me cat food was BOGO (buy one, get one free). I told her I was looking for a cat litter scoopy thingie (yes, I know, my glamorous life) and had she seen any? There they were way up on the highest (i.e. unreachable for either of us) shelf. Well, Silver Lining, a very nice lady put some heavy boxes on the floor, stepped on them and got me TWO of them, bless her. I thanked her, she smiled and said "We all have to help each other!" Random acts of kindness always get me. They are, to me, messages from the Universe telling us that, yes, people may blow, but there are good ones around, we just have to look for them. After about 30 minutes, I was all stocked up, paid and on my way home.
Got home, pulled into my parking space, unloaded. Home. Bliss. Changed into my comfies. Took my meds, fed the kits and got in bed with a new book, The Invention of Wings, by Sue Monk Kidd. One of my favorites is her The Secret Life of Bees, I love that book. This one is proving to be a bit harder, it takes place during slavery and it is a tough read. Her writing has a way of drawing you inside the story, it is like you are there. Another favorite of hers is Traveling With Pomegranates, which she co-wrote with her daughter. It is one of my night-table standards, right along with Help, Thanks, Wow by Anne Lamott. My neighbor called asking if I could possibly drive her and her youngest to the pediatrician in the morning. No problem, said I was off the rest of the week and going to the doctor the next day, I'd drop them off and then head for my doctor's appointment.
Thursday morning, my neighbor called early saying her husband could take them to the doctor, not to worry. Then the doctor's office called and rescheduled me for Friday at 12:45, which was just perfect because, frankly, all I wanted was to stay home. I needed, no, I craved the peace and quiet of home. Had completely forgotten the are renovating the apartment next to mine. Much whirring, hammering, sawing soon ensued. But I was home, in my comfies, mug of hot cafe con leche in hand. Silver Linings all over the place. I worked on some of my little Whimbles stories, savoring being home in the middle of the work week.
Friday I went off to the doctor. Where I was greeted by a lobby full of hacking, coughing, wheezing, sneezing, gasping patients. Surely, I thought, one of Dante's circles of hell must be waiting in a doctor's lobby. But, hey, no cause for complaints. I have insurance, it's all good. My name was called and in I went. Everything checked out, got two shots for my back. Started feeling slight relief right away. By the time I got to Walgreen's to pick up refills, I was feeling way better and by the time I was on my way home, I was feeling quite good. Decided to try and sneak in a bit of shopping and went to Home Goods ... by myself! It's been a while since I've ventured to the stores on my own. Prefer to have someone with me, in case my back acts up, or whatever. But, nope, I felt like "me" again and off I went.
I love that store, always has such a nice stock of soaps and sniffies. Happily dawdled for about 30, 45 minutes, then paid and came home. My neighbors were pulling in at the same time, helped me carry my bags in. She was going to the mailbox and offered to get my mail, I sheepishly confessed I hadn't been to it in a while, I pay my bills on line and my friends know to mail me at the office. Bless her, she checked my mailbox and came back with a slew of holiday cards. Josefina said she would keep my mailbox key and check my mailbox for me. The area where the mailbox is always gives me the heebie jeebies. Have I ever mentioned I have lovely neighbors? I do, I do. Happily cocooned the rest of the day, read all my Christmas cards which gave me the warm fuzzies. Promise to send out Valentine's Day cards ON TIME, not like the Halloween cards which are still sitting on my kitchen counter, addressed, stamped ... and waiting for Halloween of this year, sigh.
Saturday, I woke up feeling so much better that I decided to clean. Spent the greater part of the day scrubbing, cleaning and mopping. Reorganized my little pantry. My neighbor called saying they were off to do groceries and did I need anything, I said light bulbs. No problem, they'd get me light bulbs. Random act of kindness. Then walking into my kitchen I tripped over some art supplies on the floor and took a spectacular fall. Landing first on my right arm and then on the right side of my face. Once I got my wind back, checked nothing was broken, my jaw hurt like the dickens, hauled myself back up, got some ice for my rapidly-swelling jaw. My neighbors came by with the light bulbs and seeing my jaw, went to get some ointment for it. Her husband, always the gentleman, replaced my porch light's light bulb. She fussed over me, saying to rest, put some ice on my jaw, rest, rest, rest. Tsk, tsking all the while. They are some of the kindest people I have ever known.
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| Ouch! |
Later another neighbor and friend, Miuri, called asking if she could drop by with a little something from her kitchen. Her "little somethings" are always delish and I was in no mood for cooking, major Silver Lining and random act of kindness for her to call. Soon I was feasting on some truly delicious meatloaf and rice with veggies. She sat at the table with me, keeping me company while I snarfed down her delicious dinner. Then my neighbor, Josefina, called again and said she was bringing me dinner, when I told her our friend was over and had brought me dinner, she said fine, you have lunch for tomorrow then. Over she came bearing Chinese fried rice and soup. Deeelish. I do love my neighbors. Miuri and I talked for what seemed like hours, she is an excellent listener and you can talk with her about anything under the sun. She reminds me of my friend Connie, they both have this air of serenity, peace about them. Josefina always said that we would be great friends and she was absolutely right. We three have a great friendship.
Sunday I woke up late, had Josefina's dinner for brunch with a cafe con leche. Spent the day writing my little stories and watching movies. Had a lovely quick chat with FGM Martha, She of the Whimbles. Really have to get my stories off to them, I keep tweaking them. I was supposed to meet Stephanie (a/k/a Faboo Fleaing FGM), but we rescheduled.
It didn't occur to me until today that I might have had a concussion from knocking my head on the floor (twice, it bounced the first time). I remembered the time I was bike riding and went into a skid, flew off my bike and hit my head on the hub cap of a car parked where we were riding our bikes. I dented the hub cap. Silver Lining being I actually DO have a very hard head! My grandmother put an icepack and vinegar and salt on the huge bump, I smelled like a salad for days afterwards. She must have been watching over me this Saturday when I banged it yet again.
Had to put The Invention of Wings down, take a break from it. It is a very hard book to read. Maybe because of the subject matter. I will never be able to wrap my head around the fact that people thought it was okay to own people. To actually believe they were not "quite" human. WTF? How could they possibly rationalize that? And they went to church! That is what really blows my mind. How in blazes could they read the Bible, go to church, proclaim themselves as "Christians" and buy and sell people, tear families apart, abuse, punish, torture? Put the book away, started re-reading Traveling With Pomegranates. Love that book. It always makes me think of Mom. Miamamma. She was such a special child of light. That is how I think of her, a Child of the Light. When people tell me I am such a "strong" person and bla, bla, bla, I always think well, I had one heck of a role model, didn't I? My parents and grandparents were major Silver Linings in my life. To have been given them was a HUGE act of kindness from the Father. They say one picks out one's parents, family, when choosing to reincarnate. Well, all I can say is if I ever do find myself having that choice, I will choose them all over again. Absolutely. Lord in Heaven, I am all over the place with this post. Maybe I did whack my head a little too hard ...
So, what started out as an almost melt-down at the office turned into five days off, a Silver Lining and act of kindness on my boss' part. A stranger's climbing on boxes to get me two cat littler scoop thingies, neighbors bearing dinner and checking up on me, making sure I am okay, Silver Linings and random acts of kindness, all. Not having to leave my cocoon during a cold snap, waking up to warm, snoozy cats and hot cafe con leche, not having broken anything when I fell, Silver Linings. Someone once said we have to be kind because you never know if it is an angel we are helping. I believe we should be kind because it is the right thing to do. You never know when a single act of kindness, which may not seem like much to you, may just make that person's day. And who knows? Maybe it IS an angel you are helping. Then again, I believe we are surrounded by angels all the time. Some are earth-bound, some in Heaven, but always looking out for you, for me, for us all. Many, many years ago, going to the bank with my grandmother, she fell at the door into the bank. It was the late 60s, hippies everywhere. Several men in suits, all starched perfection, walked right past us. A hippie, long-haired, dirty jeans, weird tunic-type top, ran over to us, helped her up and went and got her some cold water, gently leading her to a chair, he made her sit down until she caught her breath. He asked how were we getting home and I told him my Dad was next door at the Thrifty drugstore. He asked for his name and went and got my Dad. I wish I could have seen my Dad's face when this young, long-haired, ponytailed hippie guy ran into Thrifty calling out his name. He was very tall, very kind and quite gentle with my grandmother. I do not remember his name, but I have always remembered him. He was a Random Act of Kindness and a Silver Lining combined.
Well, time to go get ready to rejoing the world tomorrow. Silver Lining, it's a short week. Today we were off in observance of Martin Luther King Day. I have this lovely picture in my head of Dr. King and Nelson Mandela sitting on a terrace up in Heaven, having a cup of coffee and talking. That would be a soul-feeding conversation. Talking about all they went through, all that has been accomplished, all that has yet to be accomplished. I hope, I pray, one day we will all see beyond skin color, beyond differences, see that in reality, we are all one. Children of the same Father.
Until next time, be blessed, be kind to each other and keep the faith!
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| Celebrate Friendships and Silver Linings! |
