on sunday, i found out the name of the guy who stands across the aisle from me at church services each sunday. his name is billy. he lives in one of the group homes near the church, and he helped me unload a bunch of care boxes and other donated items for katrina relief. this was a positive thing. i also got my copy of the sunday ny times, which was also good, as that was only the 2nd time in 5 weeks. another good sign.
when god closes up a door, he generally opens up a window somewhere. for me, i look for signs, and generally it comes in the form of pennies from heaven. i believe that when you find one, it means that an angel or someone who has passed on is sending you a sign that he/she is looking out for you. my experience has been that i generally find one when i need one, in the least likely of places. they always cheer me up and give me some glimmer of hope. to get to a rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.
so i found the penny on my way into the WaWa in petersburg, va. it was after a few other nice things had happened.
i had been to church, and the music was super. it was a throw together band, as the music director had to suddenly leave and return to his home in texas due to family problems. music is such a strength at the church, so there was just the worry of "who will take over"? but once again, a higher power came through, and people pitched in and the music was wonderful. it reaffirmed why i like this little church congregation.
on my drive to petersburg (austin was playing in a baseball tourney), i talked on the phone to david modena, the husband of my college roomie, mary beth. mb and i have periodic "adventures" which usually involve some sort of music or interesting thing to do. david always jokes that we are off to smoke dope and get drunk, although neither of us do any of that anymore! the new adventure is a trip to d.c. in january to a conference a the hyatt capital hill. it seems that 2 of my recent rave-abouts, anne lamott (author) and richard rohr(radical franciscan priest) are together with another author for one day there! how good is that?! what was better is that david wants to go with mb and i to this. so i have something really cool to look forward to.
but back to WaWa. i love WaWa. what a wacky name! but i really love their brand ice tea, which is cheap and good, and i love the fact that you can buy a washington post or ny times sunday edition there. the added treat on sunday was the gas was ten cents cheaper there than in richmond, and i found the penny going in to buy the tea. a shiny, new penny. it made me smile and i looked around for the angel.
austin's team won the tournament, and they looked wonderful. he played with confidence and watching these boys play this weekend was the culmination of 6 years worth of work to get the best players in his age group all on one team at one time. they will be national contenders this summer. they all seemed to be happy, disciplined, talented boys. what a plus.
bebo came to austin's last game and he and i had a long chat in the stands about life, which has gotten very complicated very fast. it was sort of a bonding moment, one that i doubt i will get again in light of his recent engagement and the struggles his fiancee is having with my relationship with bebo and his family. he is a good person, but his communications skills have always been open to question, as have some of the choices he has made. i feel strongly that the best thing for austin is for me not to lay blame on either bebo or his fiancee about the difficulties between austin and his father. i think the issue is her insecurity, and the best way i know to assuage her feelings is to address the issue and not run from it. she is trying to force a separation that is indeed necessary, but could be avoided or made less obvious and awkward if she were less worried about being the alpha dog. in any case, there are some hard issues coming up concerning bebo's moving in with her and his marriage. a lot of changes and adjustments are being made, and not everyone is on the same page about things. i told bebo he needed to talk to her about this, and if he thought it would help, i will just catch her off guard and talk about the elephant in the living room.
it was a nice day, cooler and it held the promise of fall, which i am ready for. i hate the hot weather and summer. austin kissed and hugged his father goodbye in the parking lot and said he would see him on wednesday, their usual weekly day, and this was good. on thursday he had said he needed a break from his father. breaks are good when they allow you to reaccess things and get a better perspective.
it is good to have a good day. i guess that is what faith is all about...:)
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