A Quarter of Kindness

I awoke to what I thought was the sound of the donkey down the lane from where we live on Honeybourne. I chuckled when I discovered I was actually at Amanda’s home and the sound was our granddaughters morning squeals.

I stayed the night before as we are leaving soon for the US to take family pet dog ,a basenji, for his teeth cleaning .It seems it’s less dollars in the US and only an hours drive away. The day before I had been to the Indonesian embassy to extend my passport for my yearly travel to Bali and without thinking left them my password upon request . I’m to pick it up later in the week. What was I thinking, obviously I wasn’t. Today will be interesting. I’ll probably have to stay at the border while Amanda brings Prana the extra 15 min drive to vet. She’ll come back for me and we’ll drive to Kingston for the day. At least I’ll be with her for the hour drive with her pet in case he is disturbed.

I tell you all this to set up the day . The day before was a driving disaster as I drove into parkdale ave and witnessed road rage. Living in Almonte these last number of years I’ve been less anxious without the driving drama.

So ,here we go ,on our way to the United States of America without a passport.

JMJ, angels ,and all that is holy, your coming with us.

It’s raining so as I get into vehicle with Prana in back seat, Amanda driving ,I say a prayer and surround van with angel energy. If you don’t believe in such mysteries,stop reading . Chances are you’ll not be able to see the symbolism in all life’s twist and turns. Or maybe you do, what the hello do I know .

At the border crossing , I don’t have to bat my baby blues, that doesn’t work anymore these days at 64 yrs of living.

We are swiftly directed to the customs officer inside the building and I’m prepared to sit and wait. The smile on the young officers would melt stardust. He asks me why I do not have a passport on me and once I explain he smiles and says ,”go”.

Amanda and I literally run to the van in case he changes his mind. It’s still pouring rain but somehow the day is beaming with incandescent sparkles. That’s what happens when I’m with our daughter, moments sparkle.

We leave Prana at veterinary clinic and decide to venture an hour away to the small village of Potsdam, NY. It’s the home to Clarkson University and is known as being one of the best places to live in New York State. We drop into an ALDI supermarket. It’s a chain of supermarkets from Germany . I was first introduced to them in Flordia. They have great prices on Tuna, salmon and all their cheeses. We get a cart but I had forgotten you need 25cents to get shopping cart which is refunded upon return. Not only do I not have passport but neither of us has any American cash. As we chuckle at this a young women stops and asks,do you need a quarter?” She hands us one and we gratefully accept with gratitude.

Once we are in downtown Potsdam , we look for a parking space. The town is very unique with many shops lining the street in harmony and cleanliness all next to a winding river. We see a gentleman leaving a parking meter and as I roll my window down I ask the cost of meter. “10cents for a half hour “, is his reply. What? A dollar might get you 15 min in Ottawa so this is exciting news. We have a quarter. We drive to a meter that still has 34 mins left, drop our quarter in and voila, we are all set for two hours.

Our first stop is a totally gluten free bakery. Cupcakes, every colour and taste imaginable greet us as we enter 3 Bears gluten free Bakery & Cafe.

After our bellies are filled with protein and sugar we waltz into a figure skating -dance studio boutique. For me it’s like eating cotton candy as a child. The delights of seeing such beauty in one location is breathtaking. I’m reminded of mine and then the girls figure skating days and of course the 5 years John and I took ballroom dancing lessons. I have no desire to leave. The styles, the colours, the smells all run through me and I’m excited to be alive . I’ve not felt this way since I closed the White Lilly and realize I am feeding my inner fashionista.

Next it’s Amanda’s turn, we enter the university bookstore and this is her territory. The volumes, , the row upon row of novels, fiction, classics, biographies, poetry ,children’s books, the fragrance,all wrapped up into one hugh heart beat for her. We spend what feels like minutes here, actually it’s two hours. We sit and read one liners out loud to one another from books that inspire us. It’s our sacred moment in a very sacred space. We leave with a few treasures and make our way to a health food restaurant. We are blessed to stretch ourselves out on long leather couches . We chat heart to heart, laugh,cry as we discuss a mother’s relationship with their first born. We ponder about a feeling most mother’s have as they are raising their firstborn and unable to name it,so we call it “that”. That ,we will discuss again as it has alerted me to a feeling I’ve been remorse about since Melanie’s , my firstborns death.

It’s been seven years and Amanda also has her feelings of grief that spill over like chocolate spewing out of a chocolate fountain. Bittersweet.

It’s time to pick up Prana and we wonder as we leave the comfort of the leather couch if we have a parking ticket by now. Alas, once in the van , no ticket. That quarter has stretched itself out to a full day of delights. I internally thank the women from Aldi’s once again and send her love. Love for her kindness. Love for the joy she has given two strangers this day. Two strangers who had nothing to worry about but showing up for one another. As we sat all afternoon carefree ,that quarter of kindness help make us whole.