Wow, Journeyer, another week has come to an end, with a new one right on its heels!
There’s a saying I’ve had many people tell me after I inquire about how they’re doing. “Every day I put my feet on the floor, is a good day.”
That is sort of true, isn’t it?
Believe it or not, I really don’t have pictures to write about this week, nor do I have notes to draw from.
My week was filled with return travel, unpacking, appointments for me and appointments to show the rental home we have for rent. Twice I thought I’d found a suitable tenant and twice the deal has fallen through.
I checked off a bunch of to-do items, which always make me feel good and as if I’ve accomplished something.
But happy?
I spent several mornings eating breakfast in our enclosed porch and I loved listening to the birds and the crickets.
I loved the fresh air coming through the windows and the lush green landscape spread out before me.
Quiet comfort.
And then, as I stared at my camera roll and my calendar, seeming void of happy, I remembered meeting Lilly.
My mother-in-law and I had made plans to meet at a little park event to have some lunch and hang out. It’s the first time…I think the first time in my twenty-six years of being married to Warren…that she and I have gotten together, just the two of us…
We chose a food vendor that was a job placement service and as I stood in line, I asked the woman behind me if she’d ever eaten there.
“Yes, Ma’am,” she said while nodding her head and giving me a great big smile.
“What do you recommend,” I asked her.
“It’s all good,” she replied, “but the mac ‘n cheese is slammin’!”
“Nah, he does his thing and I do mine,” she said when I tried to let her go ahead of us to be with her husband, “we been married forty-two years and we have this little system.”
After placing my order, I bought a dish of that deliciousness and handed it to the woman behind me, whose husband had already ordered a meal for them to split.
She looked to the servers, touched a finger to her heart, and then pointed to the sky.
“Lilly,” she said when I asked her her name.
She made some comment about my generosity, to which I replied, “Just paying it forward, or maybe in this case paying it backward as you strike me as the type of person who pays it forward plenty.”
As my MIL and I looked for a seat beneath tree branches that would shield us from the light rain, I spotted Lilly and her husband at a table.
We sat down with them and quickly learned that they and my lunch partner had many acquaintances in common and that they each knew of the others church and past pastors.
As we communed, Lilly shared with me a near death experience she’d had back in 2006. We talked about our children and our churches. “The world is my church,” I replied when she asked if I was part of a congregation.
We laughed. We smile. We shared.
That, Journeyer, always feeds my happy organ.
Always.
To that end, my week ended with Big Guy and four of his friends hanging out at the house one last time before they go their separate ways off to college. One of his buddies is going to the same university, while the others are heading in different directions.
I always enjoy listening to their chatter and laughter, and they never fail to make me feel good as they devour whatever concoction I’ve prepared for them.
One of their favorite dishes is an Alfredo-like Mac ‘n Cheese I make. Every time they plan to convene at our house, one or more will ask if I’m cooking that dish.
Several years ago, when there was a large group coming, I commented that I’d made a double batch.
Double batch has become the code word for dish. The boy who is the most enthusiastic about that meal beams from ear to ear as he grabs a plate and fork and every time he draws out each word…Double batch…
It’s absolutely hilarious and totally heartwarming…
Since mac ‘n cheese is known as comfort food, I guess it’s rather apropos that the food is at the center of this otherwise ordinary week filled with monotonous and tedious days…
What about you, Journeyer? What moment(s) fed your happy this week?
Until we meet again, yours in hope, healing, and happiness,
