Thursday --- Day 9

Day 9

Today we met a very lovely woman at a grocery store. She was buying lavender and mint--- she was going to make lavender-mint cookies for another woman, and she'd hunted and hunted to relocate the recipe that she'd had since way back when . . . in the past there had been a little shop in an older part of town that made these scrumptuous cookies and left the memories dancing around in her head. Wow. They sounded really, really good, and I could imagine them with a good cup of tea, and I could see me and Z in a little tea house enjoying the aromas and flavors and decor of this little shop. The checker asked if this woman would also send her the recipe. As we stood in line, this woman beamed. She turned to us and asked us, "Would you like me to send you the recipe, too?" For me in that moment, I didn't want to trouble her further, but instead, I was still dreaming of the taste of a lavender mint flavored cookie (we try to be as wheat free as we can, and that includes the white sugars). I kindly thanked her, but that I'd rather dream about the these delicious flavors. She told me that I might regret it ;-).

We visited on the way out about the changes in our taste buds and our memories as we age and ended up in front of a counter. As we stood there visiting, and we began leaning on a counter a bit, I asked her if she had a computer? She said she did. Was she familiar with email and the Internet? She was. We then asked if she would help us by answering some questions for Big Z's business. She was very glad to do it, and bent down to Big Z in such kindness and willingness, and she requested that he speak up since she wasn't as good at hearing anymore. She'd just come from a massage and was feeling good, but upon learning this, I really wanted her to be able to go relax ;-).

Big Z turned to her (he was taking a peek in the little store that was at the end of the check-out line, filled with goodies and toys and all sorts of cool things) and he politely asked her, "What would you do with an extra $2000?" With her $2000, she would give it to the Humane Society. She said, "I'm a rescuer of animals. I have two little dachshunds in the back seat of my car that I rescued." Big Z asked her, "What would you do if you had $2000 extra per month?" She answered, "I would help even more animals and I would help people. I believe in helping." She was very open to learning more about what we were doing, and she gave us her name and her email address. By the way she said it, I sensed she was uncomfortable about giving out her name. We gave her the invitation card and asked if she ever watched the reality shows on T.V.? She said she didn't, and I agreed, that I didn't either. We showed her where our contact information was after telling her a bit about who we were wanting to support when we change our Together We Can Change the World Foundations and bring them local--- Hospice and perhaps The Boys and Girls Club or the Humane Society (Big Z is still deciding). Once she was clear about information on the invitation card, she quickly departed. I told her, "I may have to get that recipe from you after all!" and we waved good-bye. What a wonderful and generous woman she is. It will be good to reconnect with her again.

We gave a follow-up call to Big Z's Aunt. Unfortunately, yesterday our family suffered a loss of our Step-Father. We agreed that we were going to put aside the visit about the business for a few days, but she still wanted to look at it.

Be it as it may, since Big Z had gone to his Dad's house, I thought about making more calls to gain our contacts for the day. However, I just didn't feel I had the spunk to do so --- I could have pushed my sadness out of my voice, but I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to focus on them like I want to, and, I know it's O.K. to be in my now. I found it difficult to stay focused all day, though I kept up with the email contacts. Mostly, in terms of our Boot Camp, I spent time catching up on the blogs of our Boot Campers. I was able to feel the emotions I had flowing through me while also being able to celebrate the steps that the Campers are taking daily, and it felt good to get to say hello to them by responding to their daily blogs. By the time I was done reading their blogs, I was heartened and full, and I felt that I could sleep well, knowing that we've found my son a business that is going to set him up for his future, it's going to enable him to really know the power of giving to others, and it's going to help us continue to have quality time with each other while he's still young.