On Tuesday, a next door neighbor called to say that her father in France had unexpectedly passed away and that her husband who she had taken to the airport at 5am cancelled his business trip and flew back to be with her and days prior, that is, last week, their water tank broke and they had no water the whole weekend because the parts needed had not shipped yet ( It’s, yes, a run-on sentence…I know). It’s been days and she still has no running water. Her husband has been taking shower at his gym whereas…she hadn’t. Perhaps forgotten, being in depth of despair. She says she needs to ask for a favor – sure, of course, I say, what can I do? She asks hesitantly – May I borrow your shower before I board the plane to go to my father’s funeral? The flight has a stopover in London so I’d like to at least shower before I go – I hope I make it to the funeral – the flight is this afternoon, she’s not quite sure when, she then says – she thinks in 2-3 hours…in trying to explain the urgency, she began to sound a bit off-kilter.
Yes, yes, Of course, I said. I then cancelled an appointment and when I opened the door to let her in, she looked ghostly, like she hadn’t showered for days (and in fact, she hadn’t – for real), looking pale and pensive. Energy of disturbance fills the air…just heavy and dark. It’s palpable. Half an hour later, she comes out of the shower looking fresh and a bit relieved. Less pensive; less anxious; more expressive and more…light. Just little bit relaxed, which yielded a subtle change in the energy field we shared – a faint sparkle returned along with colors on her cheeks.
Unplanned but … I ended up taking her to the airport because the repairmen were still there and so her husband could not leave the house. He could not book a flight out either until the following day… so … She kept on saying – I am so glad you (i.e., me) were around today. Thank you so much. Then she called again from the airport – Hey, thank you, she said … sounding like her old self. She was more herself then; well mannered and in control. I detected a hint of her usual strength in her voice. Normalcy had returned probably because she was at the airport with rest of all that humanity, all the fellow travelers, all on some journey or another.
I am grateful that I was home that day because had it been another day or another week, I would not have been. I got very little done that day as more disruptions kept happening but…
I am glad I was able to provide a little comfort.
The above is her signature salad – she is a long time student of Ayurveda and tells me that Dandelion leaves used as salad leaves are very detoxifying. Quite bitter tasting but lovely offset with sweet Papayas. Thought of this dish today as I thought of her – Her book is soon to publish. A book her father had looked forward to reading, she muttered as we drove to the airport – once translated into French. This brought back the memory of the time when I lost my father – we all have stories to tell, each of us.
We all need to be comforted from time to time. Having gone through a loss like hers myself, I was glad to be on the side of comforting, rather than to be the one to be comforted this time… Flashback to that time when I scrambled to fly back to Japan leaving the house to my best friend, then a house guest visiting from Japan – so thankful she was there. I remember taking the taxi from Narita airport to the hospital praying – and getting there ON TIME. ON TIME as in he was still alive. Next day he was not. Counting my blessings for having arrived on time. The rest is a blur…
Sometimes we are on time; sometimes we are too late. But do not despair – we will all meet again – I guess that’s what I wanted to tell my friend as she stepped off my car to go on her journey.
