WE HOPED IT WOULD LAST

It's too weird.  Today, on impulse, I once again decided to drive over to the Drowsy Parrot coffee shop in Saline after my workout at the gym.  Just as a couple of weeks ago, I walked in and, sitting at a table were my friend Lou Thayer and his family.  We call it serendipity, but it's more than that. He said it's the first time he's been there on a Friday in three years.  I have been there on a Friday probably never. I enjoyed getting to know his two daughters, his granddaughter and his son-in-law. A nice way to start the day.  This afternoon I had a long  healing talk with a friend.  Look forward to the lecture with brother Dick tomorrow morning and then a quiet weekend.

At the gym today I reminisced about the times when Gwen and I would go there together.  It was a bit of an effort to get up and go, but, once there, always worth it.  Afterwards, we enjoyed going to breakfast somewhere,  Gosh, how I miss those quiet times, talking about nothing in particular but, as I now see, it was everything.  I thought too about how those special moments were taken for granted at the time. This poem is about that:

WE HOPED IT WOULD LAST

My smart phone tells me

I’m hearing smart music

Mozart, Piano Concerto in D.

Music to pump iron by.

Others like me gather;

pulling, pushing, pedaling,

practicing healthy habits

trying to stay a while

longer, if not relevant

at least present.  Bless them.

When you were there with me

we saw through a different window

the figure skaters, graceful

beauties, captivated you.

Arms around each other,

we stood and watched.

Then, off for a quiet breakfast.

We took it all for granted.

Hoped it would last forever.

Today I sit behind the steering wheel,

kiss your memory, write these words.

John A. Bayerl, April 1, 2011

In a way, it does last forever.