To Feel The Love

The last two weeks have been crazy to say the least.  Two weeks ago I got a call about a new job with another Title Company.  If you know me, you know that I have worked at the same place for the last 39 years.  And, to get a new job was exciting, scary and sad all at the same time. 

I hadn't want to really look for a new job, I liked mine, but I was only working part time due to the fact we were laid off part time, and unemployment was a joke.  I tried to cut our expenses where I could but sooner or later I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up with the bills. 

I tried working part time at night for Fed Ex but besides finding out why everything is broken when it is delivered it was too hard for me to do and way to dangerous for an old lady.  I applied to a lot of jobs on line and then I got the call for an interview about a month ago for another Title Company doing more or less the same thing I am doing  now.  And when the call came that I got the job, well it was kind of sad at work.  We all teared up because we now knew that the three of us would soon be down to two. 

I spent the next two weeks packing up 39 years of accumulated stuff.  Christmas stuff, stuffed animals, food stuff and how many coffee mugs can a girl have stuff.  All of which ended up in my dining room.  The last day was difficult, but not as bad as I thought it would be.   Presents that I did not expect, a lunch which was delicious and good byes that were heartfelt and heartbreaking. 

Not only had I worked with Annette all those 39 years, Barb came along 19 years ago and became a BFF easily.  How do you leave them?  Well, one thing is that I will visit often.  Thankfully it is close by.  I didn't feel the emptiness until a few minutes ago when I was putting Christmas cookies away.  I didn't pack any for the girls for tomorrow.  It felt like I had a hole in the stomach and I got a lump in my throat.  Instead I will take some to them later this week.

Now just when I thought it couldn't get anymore emotional, yesterday proved to be even more so. 

Saturday we had a Santa's breakfast at our church.  So much fun, so much food.  It was a great time.  At the end when the helpers got a chance to sit down I was eating with another BFF of mine, Cathy.  My mom was sitting next to me and then suddenly there seemed to be a lot of people around.  I just figured they were  talking, but the next thing I knew there was a present.  Gail, a wonderful women from my church had a gift for me.  Now, I don't like to be singled out, so at first I thought what could this be, why am I getting a present? Well, to my surprise it was a painting that Gail did of me.  Me, as Super Stewardship Woman.  Me, with blue wig askew, cape flying and crazy tights.  In that moment I felt like my heart would just pop out of my chest with love.

So,  that's been my week.  I don't know what tomorrow holds, but whatever it is I know one thing for certain, I am loved.  And I don't go through this world alone.  I have so many dear friends.  So many BFF's that I feel blessed.  More blessed than one human being should be.

It has been a rough couple of months but I am looking forward to new adventures, new friends and new challenges.

And that is Another day in Catasauqua

When I was a Little Girl, I Kept a Dragon in a Jar

When I was very little,

I thought I kept a dragon in a jar.  Every so often I would let him out to fly around and then I would scoop him back up and place him into the jar again.  My dragon's name was Puff, of course, the song by Peter, Paul and Mary was popular at that time, I was about 6 years old. 

Puff was an actual puff, you know the puff that is bigger that a dandelion puff, the way the seeds of a plant spread.  Anyway, when I was a child I caught one of these big puffs (thinking it was a dragon, hey I didn't know what a dragon was suppose to look like, don't judge me)  and that was what I kept in my jar.  It was truly magical, I had it in the jar for days and I would let him out to fly and I would run around the yard with him.  I sang to him (Puff the Magic Dragon lived by the see and frolicked in the Autumn mist with a girl called Beverleeeee, sorry I am a creative singer) I tried to feed him. but he didn't eat anything.  But like my grandfather taught me, you can't keep creatures in a jar really long, they will die.  So eventually I left him fly away.  I truly loved Puff, I told him all my secrets, well at least the secrets of a 6 year old girl.

So why am I tell you this, well, this morning on my way to work suddenly there was a puff on my car window.  It plopped right directly in front of me, like it was looking at me, then it swirled across my window, just like a little dance and I smiled and all the memories of Puff, my dragon, came rushing back to me.  I even had tears thinking about it.  Isn't it amazing how little things can make you happy.

In this world, as a grown-up, it seems like it takes a lot to make us happy.  Everything seems so technical and we are skeptical of everyone and everything.  But, then I thought about it, isn't the simple things  still what make us truly happy.  Think about it.  A baby being born, love, a smile and even a fart makes us laugh. (Yes, Barbara I am thinking about you!).

Today I am thankful for that magical puff, the one I met today, and the one that played with a lonely little girl back in 1963.  Heck, maybe it was the same Puff.

May you find still find pleasure in the simplest of things.  Don't let life get so busy and complicated that you miss it. 

Smile, because, that's another day in Catasauqua.