and the gratitude flows thru....

she has parkinson's.
i mentioned her recently here in a blog.

i found myself sitting on a couch last nite
talkin' to her.

she told me that she didn't think of parkinson's
as being who she was.

i smiled at her and told her i didn't either.

i asked her if she minded talking about it.
she said no.

and i explained to her how i was searchin'
right now and tryin' to figure life out and
feelin' in this midlife crisis stuff. outlined
it for her.

'i wonder what searches you have had, where it's
taken you, how the parkinson's has affected the
search, what you've figured out...'

and we talked.

it was an impromptu girls nite dinner at a friend's
house. my friend's daughters were boppin' around,
women were in and out.

we only got so far with the conversation.

but far enough for her to look at me and tell me that
she believes love is what it's all about.

absolutely!
i so agreed.

nothing new to me. no.
but just havin' her look me in the eyes and say it
with the strength she did.....
i don't know......mabye it brought me back to a place
i needed to be.

don't know.

do know that ever since then i've had this incredible
gratitude thing runnin' thru me.

i feel like somehow sittin' and sharin' a bit on the
couch opened up this little gate inside of me that
needed opening....

and the gratitude flowed on thru big time.

love.

she laughed and clarified that she didn't mean romantic
love. and i nodded with vigor.
and yet.....i'm lucky enough to have that too.

love.
in all its forms.

the real stuff.

i gotta believe that's the real deal.

i hugged her as i left and thanked her....
everyone teaches me so much, reminds me of so much.

and the gratitude flows thru....