I imagine Mom tucking me into bed and asking me about my day. And I tell her…

I took the grandbaby out into the sunshine on the back deck and sat in a chair and she bounced on my lap for a while. We listened to the birds singing and she put her forehead against mine and chatted to me in her own language about life, and we laughed and sang together, and celebrated being alive on this fine spring day.

After she and my son and daughter-in-law left to run errands, I put Four Weddings and a Funeral on TV in the background while I washed the dishes and cleaned the counter and answered emails, and worked on my Blossoms game.

Then I went to the post office and got my mail and, just before I left, Luciano the Neopolitan Mastiff stuck his head out of the truck that pulled into the space next to me. Luciano and I are new friends – I just met him for the first time a couple of days ago – and I was so happy to see him again. I got out of my car to say hi to him. His kind human recognized me and gave me a biscuit to feed Luciano. I held it out on a flat palm to feed him in the same way I would feed a horse. He sucked up the biscuit and left a trail of doggy slobber on my hand. It was awesome.

I drove from the post office to the supermarket to pick up some things before I headed home. The older woman in front of me in the checkout line was classy and elegant-looking. She had golden open-toed sandals, tan capris, and cool, spangly jewelry, and her hair was beautifully-coiffed in what we used to call a “page boy.” She turned to smile at me and to apologize for taking so long to put her stuff on the counter, and I told her I loved her shoes and her earrings and… oh look! We had the same kind of reusable shopping bags! She laughed and said she thought she’d gotten hers from some charity she’d donated to. I looked at the bottom of my bag and saw that I’d gotten it from the Lakota Sioux people – a group I donate to regularly. I’d forgotten I’d gotten that bag from them. It was cool to realize this gracious put-together woman and I both donate to the same people. I love making connections like that.

I stopped at the Edison Cafe to get some lunch and a raspberry Italian soda and sat at the table outside to wait. Soon Austin (the owner of the cafe and one of my former eighth graders) delivered the soda to me. He’d topped the soda with whipped cream and sprinkles and it was beautiful. Before I’d come outside, I’d nodded and smiled to a couple of young men eating their lunch at a table inside – one of them was covered in tattoo art, and the other had a long black braid past his waist – and the thought came to me that I would love to have been the teacher to these gentle giants – they both emanated kindness and good will. When they came out to get in their car, they smiled at me again and wished me a good day, and I wished them one, too. I felt the genuineness of their wish for me, and our new connection.

I came home and mowed the lawn in the front of the house and in my Secret Garden – I love the smell of freshly-mowed grass – and the birds were singing – and the sun was shining on me – and it was just lovely.

I watched a movie I found on Netflix (The Peanut Butter Falcon) and then my son and daughter-in-law came home, and my other daughter-in-law stopped by – and it was so joy-filled to have everyone in the house, laughing and sharing space.

Then the grandbaby bounced on my lap and chatted to me for a while about her day, and I nodded at her insightful comments, and told her I love her.

It has been a good day, Mom.
Karen Molenaar Terrell