Well it's day three and I've got the blues. It really has nothing to do with this 49th year thing. Just feeling a bit overwhelmed being inside this chaotic place called the sandwich generation. Taking care of my elderly mom, trying to get Lulu through high school and off to college, working on selling one house and buying another, running a business, leading a staff, giving back to my community, being a wife, sister - yada, yada, yada - probably nothing that a bagillion other women have faced with a ton more grace than I can find at this moment. Sie la vie - Which in Amy language means - stop belly aching and whining, suck it up and move forward.
I did have a happy thought this morning though as I prepared for yet another day. Yesterday I mentioned my BFF Teri. In fact, I told you I would share more about her as time progresses. No time like the present. Today is Ash Wednesday. I am not a Catholic. In fact, when people ask me what religion I am I tell them that I am a Pedestrian. Takes them awhile to get that joke. Sometimes they are offended. I think it's a hoot! Don't have much tolerance for organized religions. I am a Christian and most times a woman of great faith.
Any who - Years ago while I was living in Baton Rouge Teri and I decided to take a spin over to Hobby Lobby the day after Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday). Reason being is that all the Mardi Gras decorations would be marked down to 75% off. Great time to buy decorations for the next year's grand event. After an hour or two, we finally decided we had done enough monetary damage and got in line behind the other thrill seeking discount shoppers. I noticed the woman standing behind me had some dirt on her forehead. Being the woman who would want someone to tell me if I had parsley in my teeth or something nasty peeking out of a nostril, I licked my thumb, reached over and wiped the the smudge off her forehead saying, "Sweetie you have a little dirt on your face." The woman looked at me as if I had just kicked her in the stomach. Teri grabbed my arm screaming, "what the hell are you doing?" By this time others had begun to stare in contempt at my generosity of helping this woman not become the butt of others jokes. I threw my hands up in the air, looking at everyone. "What's the big deal?", I said almost in a pissed off tone at this point. Apparently some Catholics go to Ash Wednesday mass. They get a blessing from the priest, who....wait for it....smudges a cross with ashes on their forehead. Little did I know that I had just wiped away this woman's Ash Wednesday blessing with my spit. Who knew?
Teri and I have told that story to all who will listen. Even though about 20 years have past since that day I licked a blessing away, we still laugh until we cry. Good news is, just telling it again to all who will listen has taken away my blues. Perhaps that is the real blessing! Happy Ash Wednesday - may you be blessed!
Oh, man Amy!!!...
ReplyDeleteThat is a fantastically funny story!!! It really, really is.
I wouldn't have realized either, but I think what sets you apart here is that most of us would have just told a stranger that they had something on their face. But you actually touched a complete stranger with your spit covered thumb!!! Oh man, this is hilarious on several levels!!
Hairsplitter, OCD