Yesterday I got to cross something off my Someday list, which is as great a pleasure as crossing an item off a To Do list, but fun. A friend invited me to explore Kruckeberg Botanic Garden, a park I'd heard of but had never managed to get to. It's both wild and well-tended, lots of trees, some water features, a plant nursery, a playground, winding paths. It's a few acres in size, although it didn't seem that big while we were wandering through it. I was happy to be there at last, and to share it with a friend.
However, that wasn't the best part of the day. My friend and I went out to lunch after the garden to one of our favorite seafood restaurants. We got a nice table looking out over the marina and Puget Sound, and the food was delicious.
But that also wasn't the best part of the day. The best part came when I heard our jovial server talking with diners at a nearby table. That very day the diners and the server had all closed escrow on the houses they were selling, so they were celebrating.
When the server came to our table, I congratulated her on closing escrow, and asked where she was going to live next. We learned that she is two years a widow, and finally ready to start her life again. She will be moving to a smaller house she and her husband had bought on the Olympic Peninsula. She already has friends there, and is looking forward to this new beginning. It was incredibly touching to hear her story. She was not in any way mournful (publicly, at least) and seemed happy with the path she had chosen.
When the bill came, I left her a $40 tip on a $30 meal, with a note "To the future!". And that was the best part of the day: hearing someone's story and being able to contribute, not in a meaningfully concrete way, but symbolically, out of friendliness and respect; to recognize that she has been through something terrible, awful, and to cheer her on as she moves ahead with her life. I was sad for her loss, but glad to have met her when she is writing a new chapter for herself.
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