Stray Gifts

We've reached month 17. I visited my ortho on Friday and he was once again pleased with the progress, and I'm once again back to teeth that don't line up, eggs and mashed potatoes, and liquid lunches. I'm back to tripping over my tongue, and yesterday, my throat gave out, but with copious amounts of tea, honey and citrus bioflavinoids, I'm miraculously better. I also had dinner with my dear friend Pete at Ippudo, where I experienced firsthand the healing powers of that incredibly rich ramen broth. (The sake and plum wine didn't hurt either.) I haven't seen Pete in years, and there is nothing like catching up with an old friend to cure what ails you.

That was the first thing to put me in a good mood. What followed after was rather extraordinary.

I got on the train today, and though I didn't get a seat, I was standing right in front of an old man who wore a wool fedora and a 1940s style overcoat just like my grandpa used to. Though he didn't look like him, there was some similarity there, some old-world feeling that I find charming and mannered. I have always liked men of a certain age. My mother says that when I was three years old, I would walk down the Brooklyn Promenade on sunny days and climb into the laps of all the old men. She said that it was probably because I was looking for Grandpa. I think it's because I was just as charmed by gentlemen then as I am now.

He got up to leave the train a stop before I did and we exchanged such warm smiles with one another that my mood elevated even more. I didn't mind the snow that was falling in great flakes outside. In fact, I found it really, really lovely. (The description of snow from The King and I came to mind: "Little bits of lace, falling from the sky.")

I met my brother for lunch and had such a good time with him that I was practically skipping back to my office. A man in the street tried to give me a 50% off coupon for Baluchi's. When I said thanks but no thanks, he said to me, "You look great!" I smiled and walked away. As I was halfway down the block he yelled, "My name is Shawn!"

And then! I had dinner with my friend Alicia who presented me with an enormous flower arrangement bursting with yellow tulips and lavender roses and freesia. (Oh my!) It was left over from a work event, and I was so touched that she brought it for me. My apartment smells like a spring garden. It's nothing short of a dream juxtaposed to the frigid tundra outside.

As Wordsworth said, "Pleasure is spread through the earth in stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find." I am so grateful for all the stray gifts of the day! I can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring!