Coffee talk

Once again, I find myself at a local coffee shop, this time in my home town, listening to the entertaining and intriguing chit chat of the other coffee sippers. This is one of my favorite past times. My introvert self sits back, looks busy on my iPad, and my extrovert eavesdrops on the stories being told...the connections being made. We live in such an place of luxurious richness - we who are fortunate enough (like me ) to have the time and resources to even buy a cup of coffee, in a part of Greensboro that is beautiful, safe, friendly, relaxing. This morning I'm thinking about how rare this is - or nonexistent - for so many people in this world. And, I am thinking about how much I depend on these places in time where people meet, greet, share, talk, extend good will to strangers.

I'm also really aware these days of time with my Dad. Yesterday when he rolled up on Guilford's campus in his adorable mini pick up truck, full of pine needles, after his morning trip to the Garden Center, I grabbed that moment in my mind knowing what a gem it was. We all have those moments don't we? When we know for not nearly long enough, that the precise moment we are in is the only one we've truly got. And then, poof...that crystal clarity disappears again. I went to two memorial services this week. Those rituals that give us the opportunity to ponder the fragility of life - the uniqueness of each moment. I always think about how much I take for granted every day, and how I forget to really look at the faces and into the eyeballs of my friends, loved ones and even strangers. How I don't listen to the sounds around me, or the timbre of my children's voices. About how many times I have not taken the opportunity to tell someone that they matter to me, or to demonstrate it.