A Story for Mom on her 90th Birthday

On this past Tuesday evening, I was out with Aidan, coming back from a trip to the Cleveland Heights library on Lee Rd, and made a stop at the United Dairy Farmers store at the corner of my street to buy milk. As we headed toward the door, a man entering before us held the door. I was standing in front of the cooler, trying to decide whether to buy a 1/2 gallon of milk for $2.69, or 2 milks for $4.00, or one milk, one O.J. for $4.00. I didn't see the orange juice, and was considering one white, one chocolate milk, when I noticed the man who had held the door waiting for me to make a selection. I stepped away to let him open the cooler, and then Aidan asked me for a candy bar. I said okay, so he said, "Grandma, can I have TWO candy bars?"
"No, only one", I said. "Grandma only has enough money for one".

Now I was standing at the counter with two 1/2 gallons of milk, waiting for Aidan. The man who had held the door, and whose purchase I had impeded, was at the cashier in front of me. He turned to me and held out a $10 bill without saying anything, but nodding toward Aidan. I declined the money, thanking him but saying we were fine. He continued to hold out the bill, and when I again said I couldn't take it, he said "Please. My grandfather taught me this." So I accepted the money, and he completed his own purchase and left, waving away my thank yous and my attempt to make him at least wait for his change.

I was so moved by this interaction, this gift from nowhere from a stranger, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. Since Mom's 90th birthday would have been tomorrow, naturally I have been thinking about her too, more than ever. Was that you, Mom, recognizing yourself in me as I stood at the cooler weighing the pros and cons of one or two half gallons of milk and the money saved versus the money spent when you only had $5 to spend? Was that you, Mom, seeing one of your great-grandchildren sweetly begging for candy, and you unable to resist? I want to believe that unexplained good events are somehow due to your influence, especially when they occur so close to your birthday. Thanks, Mom, and Happy Birthday!

"Be patient to all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves.  Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them.  And the point is to live everything.  Live the questions."  Rainer Maria Rilke,  from Letters to a Young Poet.

2nd Annual Sisters Weekend

Hello everyone,
Even though it appears that only myself, Roberta, and Agnes are currently reading/contributing to this blog, I thought it would be a perfect place to start a conversation about our 2nd annual sisters' get-together. Mary and Cathy suggested going back to WVa, just a different place, and at the end of September or early October for a long weekend. I am thinking Sept 26 (Fri) and come back Mon Sept 29th. We could go back to Fayetteville (Lewisville also sounds interesting) in the New River area, or I thought maybe the "Metro Valley" which includes Charleston and Huntington. Below is a link to a wonderful, all-inclusive 2008 guide to the whole state.

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/milesmedia/08WVA/index.php?startid=112

I'm also going to send a regular email, and trust Agnes and Cathy to alert Mary, and we can start talking about if, when, and where we can meet this year!

plastic spoons for ice cream

"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance---that principle is contempt prior to investigation" - Herbert Spencer