Originally published February 9, 2014 on http://www.thespin.blog.com

Once there was a young girl who was destined to create great things.

She was smart and beautiful and talented. She could paint a picture with her music and tell a story with her paints. She was filled with faith in God and joy in life. This girl was proud but not arrogant. She was proper but not prude.

When she laughed, it rose up from the depth of her soul and when she loved, it came from the bottom of her heart.

Her world was wide open.

She would be an ambassador, perhaps, to promote civil negotiations between her country and its neighbors. She believed in fairness, justice and equality. She might even be president of her country to make sure that her people lived in peace and prosperity. So she began learning things that an ambassador should know, studying languages and filling her head with Spanish and English and French. The she added a little German for good measure.

Maybe she would be a famous singer and bring her music to the world. She danced and sang every day. She sang to the birds in the treetops as she did her chores and danced between rows of fruit trees until the sun went down. She performed at parties for family and friends and then at galas for generals and dignitaries. Being a musician was definitely a possibility.

But then, she could also be an artist. She doodled beautiful birds in the margins of all her school books. Hummingbirds, parrots, and pudgy little lovebirds fluttered around the pages. She sketched all the dresses she wanted to fill her closet with and designed the wedding dress that she dreamed to wear one day. 

Maybe she would be an engineer or…a doctor. A surgeon that would figure out medical mysteries and perform life-saving operations. She was certainly smart enough.

But she was also beautiful enough to be a beauty queen. What an honor it would be to represent her country on a Miss Universe stage! She would cry just a little as she accepted the crown and her whole country would cheer.

Which amazing path should she choose? Which talent should she follow? What a wonderful dilemma to have!

She decided to follow her heart. Her heart was full of faith and hope and love. So as her adventure began, she married and had a daughter and two sons. She left her country, her home, her mother and went to a new land where she was seen as an oddity because of the color of her skin, not light enough or dark enough to quite fit in anywhere.

But she knew she was destined for greatness. She still believed in fairness and equality and she would teach her children to believe in it, too. She was still proud, especially of her brand new addition – a little girl.

When her heart was broken, she still believed in love and she found it again. She added one more little girl to her brood.

When her heart was broken once more, she didn’t let it break her. Instead she let music heal her home and mend her heart. She drew pictures of birds and dresses and flowers to make her children smile. She let them see that they were beautiful but she made sure they stayed humble. They knew that they were smart but she didn’t let them get arrogant.

She taught them to dance.

She gave them the strength to be fighters and the tenderness to be lovers. She taught them to embrace adventure and the wind in their hair while riding a motorcycle. She taught them to fish and to not give up when the fish weren’t biting.

She gave them faith.

She laughed and it filled her children’s souls. She loved and it filled their hearts.

When her home emptied of children, she refilled it with God. She brought His word to those with open hearts and shared His promise of peace. She sang praises to Him and drew pictures of what His kingdom might look like here on earth.

She studied more languages so that she could teach anyone she met about the bible. She devoted the rest of her life to serving him and serving others.

Then the day came when she began looking back on what her life had been instead of what it might be. She wasn’t an ambassador or an artist. She wasn’t a beauty queen or surgeon or world famous singer.

She had been destined to create great works and destiny had failed her.

All the things that had filled her beautiful mind and her wonderful heart began to desert her. They left her lonely and afraid. They left her lost.

As the light grew dim, she looked at the five strangers gathered around her with love and sadness in their eyes. She wondered why they should have so much pain and she wanted to comfort them as a mother would comfort her own children.

It was then that she recognized them. These strangers, these children…no, HER children. THESE were her great works.

These were her GREATEST works!

They were beauty queens and fighters for justice. They were amazingly intelligent and artistically gifted. They were joyful and generous, loyal and kind. Music fed their spirits and dancing freed their souls.

She remembered the first shiny white shoes of a gorgeous little blonde headed girl. And she remembered that same little girl giving her brother a haircut for their family portrait. She remembered praying at the bedside of her too-adventurous son. She remembered shopping for wedding dresses and dancing at weddings. She remembered building congregations from the ground up and then filling them with worship. Homecoming courts, football games, awards assemblies, art shows, school plays – she remembered it all!

She remembered grandbabies. THIRTEEN of them! And two wonderful great-grandsons. 

SHE REMEMBERED.

She remembered the sound of their laughter filling her home.

And she remembered their love.

She was no longer lonely. She was no longer afraid. She was no longer lost. She knew that she was exactly where she was supposed to be. Her heart was full. Her work was done.

So she slept.

Once there was a young girl who was destined to create great things.

Once there was an old lady who fulfilled her destiny.

In loving memory of my mother
Aquilina Demaris Flores Martinez Ward Roberts
January 22, 1941 – February 9, 2014

I’m not usually one of those people that goes around quoting the great thinkers. Usually, I’m quoting Disney movies, commercials and random song lyrics but lately I can’t seem to get the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson out of my head. He said, “Once you make a decision the universe conspires to make it happen.” And I think he’s right. (Thanks, Universe!)

I decided a long time ago to be happy.

Today, as I reflect on the things I’m thankful for, I am overwhelmed by how many of those things came at just the right time. Not at “my” right time but when the Universe said I was ready. At a time when I would truly appreciate the delicate string of coincidences that brought me to that place!

One of my favorite coincidences is when baby Ladybug and I went to an event downtown. Downtown was her happy place when she was little. She loved the shops, the noise, the hustle and bustle AND THE DOGS! Everybody here has a dog and she had to pet every single dog in the city before her downtown excursion was complete.

This one particular night, we were walking towards a group of three or four guys and they had a tiny English bulldog puppy. I was fairly certain we were not the target audience for this group of handsome single guys but they stopped and introduced their puppy, Munson. They patiently waited while dog and girl wiggled, sniffed and hugged each other. Then they were off. As we walked away from them I thought to myself “what nice guys!” I turned to look back at them one more time but the one in the blue jacket was looking back at me! He smiled. I smiled. The Universe smiled and whispered, “Patience, Darlin’.” Ladybug dragged me off to pet more puppies.

Fast forward a year or so to spring 2005…My stepsister introduced us to this really nice guy that she worked with. Spoiler: he turns out to be my Big Love. Big Love liked me. I liked Big Love. I hoped Ladybug would, too. So, we arranged to bump into each other at a local kid/dog park. I brought my kid. He brought his friend’s dog that he was keeping for the weekend. I spotted him in the parking lot and asked Ladybug if she recognized anybody.

I’m pretty sure I heard the Universe call out, “Aaaaaaand…ACTION!”

She squealed with delight and shouted, “Munson!!!” I don’t know how she remembered the dog’s name. I don’t know how she recognized him as the same tiny puppy because now…he. was. fat. It took me a minute to make the connection but it was them, Munson and Big Love – the smiling guy in the blue jacket.

And the Universe sighed contentedly, “You’re welcome.”

Another of my favorite coincidences was more recent (2015) when I ended up getting a job that I didn’t apply for and that wasn’t even available. Big Love and I had recently walked away from ruining our Tire Shop because it was also ruining us. At the time, we were both working for THE BEST home improvement store. I enjoyed the work and liked the people. I thought I was happy. The Universe said, “Oh, you’re cute. Watch this.”

Ladybug was interested in working with kids and thought she might test the waters as a parapro but she had no idea how to become a para. Me neither. We did a little research online and looked at the open positions but that didn’t quite answer all our questions. I decided to just go through the application process myself and then I could talk her through it. I went in with my resume in hand and asked about the positions that were posted online. The nice lady said they were already in the interview process for one of the jobs but for ParaPro jobs I needed to pass the test or if I had a degree I could just start applying. I said, “I’ve got some of those. See! Here’s my resume!” She looked it over and spotted some familiar places. We chatted about friends in common and how in the world did I go from University to Tire Shop to Home Improvement? I told her an abbreviated version of the whole story. Not very abbreviated, actually. I talked way too much! When I left she knew way more than she needed/wanted to know about me and I knew everything that Ladybug needed to do to get her ParaPro certificate!

And then the Universe shouted with glee, “Buckle Up, Buttercup!”

I drove straight home (5 miles away) and before I could get the front door unlocked, my phone was ringing. “Would I be interested in an interview? For what position? I thought that position was closed. It IS but you want me to interview. Ummmm…Okay.” Coincidentally, the nice lady that I happened to chat with was doing the hiring. So, I interviewed.

It went terrible.

No, I’m serious. I talked way too much. At one point, I actually said “I believe that children are our future! Ummm…don’t worry. I won’t sing.” Yes. I said that. AND THEN they said, “Tell us about a time that you faced an ethical dilemma and how you handled it.” I basically told them, “My boss told me to do a bad thing. I did it but I knew I shouldn’t have and it still bothers me to this day. And as I’m telling you this I’m realizing that I probably should have picked a different story. One where I DIDN’T do the bad thing.”

They smiled politely, shook my hand and told me I should hear from them by the end of the following week. Great! THANKS! I can’t wait to read my rejection letter!

The next day, I was riding down the road to Myrtle Beach for a family reunion when they called and said they wanted to make me an offer that I couldn’t refuse. They really value integrity and the story that I told showed that not doing the right thing sincerely bothered me.

So, they said they wanted to pay me great money to work at a job that was basically designed for me, with friends that would turn into family and lead to Ladybug getting a volunteer position that would lead to a job at City Hall that would lead to a job working with kids (Which is why I was there in the first place!!). There would be loads of vacation time and Friday afternoon dance parties. I accepted the position and then I submitted an application.

The Universe shrugged and said, “It’s what I do.”

SO many of the people and things that I am truly grateful for have come from tiny coincidences. I have one of my best friends because when I walked into her office she happened to be putting a picture into a frame. I was like “Hey, white girl. Why do you have a picture of a little brown boy on your desk?” She patiently answered my inappropriate question. That lead to 14 years of many more inappropriate questions and lots of laughter, some tears and a whirlwind trip to Florida to say goodbye to my mom.

I have the other best friend because when I was in third grade, my nephew happened to be born during the school day and they announced it over the loud speaker. She thought that was cool. Then she thought I was cool. A lot of years later, we still stay up all night giggling like a couple of third graders but now it’s in places like the beach, the mountains, or New York City. (NEW YORK CITY?!?!?)  (Yep.)

I am also grateful that one day last month, my sister went into her extra bedroom looking for something. The item she needed was up on a shelf that she couldn’t reach so she stood on a Rubbermaid bin. The lid gave way and her foot went straight through it. Well, crap. She wasn’t hurt, just annoyed so she untangled herself and wrestled the broken tub from its snug little corner. She started looking through some of the long forgotten paraphernalia and it was there that she found them – two lovely little sheets of paper covered with words. MY words. She found “The Last Love Letter”.

The Universe feigned humility and giggled, “No applause, please.”

Okay, now you’re just showing off.