This late morning I went out to the pool which was fairly deserted, strange for a Friday. Only one lady was sitting out at a table, already eating, so upon ordering my food, I joined her. Cindy was having the lunch special of Shrimp Louie, a favorite of many. I ordered my usual of a cheeseburger with pasta salad as the side.
I had had a brief chat with Cindy a couple days earlier as she reconnected with a former co-worker of hers, Pat G., with whom I was having lunch. That was fun to listen in on, retracing their steps after being apart for so many years. It was good that she came again so we could visit with each other by ourselves.
She felt quite comfortable bringing up the topic of faith in the Lord with me, asking me about mine, etc. It seems her husband and she had talked about me at home, and were fairly certain I was 'in the Lord', as she put it. He is in me, but I was not about to argue that point.
We talked at some length about how the Lord's hand directs our lives and paths. She had been dedicated to caring for her ailing elderly parents and lost them both as of last November, missing them greatly. She said she has good days and not so good ones, and asked me if I had them. I told her I have bad moments, usually not entire days, and reminded her the tears are for me, not for Timmy. She actually knew of Timmy, since she was a teacher at St. Johns at the time. Knows Justin better, of course.
Her grief is compounded and much more new than is mine, but she assured me she knows where her parents are and takes comfort in that fact. Glad to know she has this comfort to help her get by. Also glad I could help in whatever small way I could. A good friend told me once that you can't go wrong with good Scripture text (or a memory to spew it forth when called upon!)
After she left, as if on cue, my new friend, Nancy, arrived at the pool. She had already eaten lunch but did order a Shrimp Louie meal to-go. We chatted a bit, and she told me had gotten my message Wednesday night when I had to break our date. I now have her phone number and she mine, so we don't have to go through bartenders to convey information!
We were in the pool a short while before we noticed the grey clouds moving in. Nuts! The wind changed, and we could sense the rain was coming. Both of us got out of the pool, grabbed our stuff and dashed for our respective homes. Hope she got her Louie before she left though! This is happening far too often now and I am tired of it! I got upstairs and out of my wet swim suit, and put on my cotton knit housedress instead of getting dressed.
Justin came home from work and settled in his room for a rest after taking a shower. I heard the doorbell and dashed to see who was there. It was my new airbed, parked outside my door. I had to wrestle it in out of the rain, not wanting the box to get wet and weak.
Later, just as The Five was wrapping up, I heard the doorbell yet again. I dashed out to see who it was, finding Debbie, my upstairs neighbor, waiting at the door. She asked me if I had plans for dinner and if not, would I like to join them. Sure!!! Justin declined to come along but that was fine. I told Debbie I would hurry up and get dressed, which I did, showing up at their door in less than 10 minutes!
First I looked at Dick's photo book from a safari he'd been on, and then off we went. They had not entirely decided where to go, thinking of a sushi-type place in Oakleaf Plantation. By the time we would have gotten out there, we figured there would be a line, so at my suggestion, we ate at Koko's!
They were nice and busy, like in the old days, with some folks even waiting to be seated. Due to our small number, we were seated immediately and served by AJ, our 'old' waitress from Koko days. We enjoyed a great meal, their treat!, and wonderful conversation. We are on the same page in many ways, which works out great! Debbie gave me her leftovers, too, for Justin. They got a kick out of my plans to be buried in a foam to-go box, perhaps even one with the brand name of HEFTY stamped in it! "Oh, Kim, you're too much!"
