Dear Reader:

Yesterday the universe just seemed to be blinking and winking throughout the day. I credit this phenomenon … to it being my friend Harriett Edwards ‘ celebration of life day! .

As I walked towards the church sanctuary for the memorial service I bumped into a friend, fellow educator, I hadn’t seen in years. We discovered we were sharing some of the same familiar paths through life and we agreed at the end of the service … it had been an unexpected encounter… and a happy ” treat !”

There were two banners against the back walls of the stage/podium that seemed to echo everything Harriett’s daughter, Becca, said in her moving tribute to her mother, followed up by Brooks Moore, her one-time principal. The banners read: Bless the Rest.

The one common denominator or theme that flowed throughout the celebration was that Harriett always put others needs ahead of her own -she simply put others first. She continuously was on the look out for a problem and then did something about it. Harriett was a ” doer” -She spent her life “blessing the rest”… for those people fortunate enough to be in her presence.

After the service I picked up some medicine and then got in the car line at a fast-food restaurant -the line was bumper to bumper. As I got closer to the car in front of me (feeling wedged in between it and the car behind me) I noticed a decal on the back of a car that read:

I had to laugh-especially since in this case we were all ” doing the snail crawl” around the parking lot. Since I had some time on my hands I thought ” That decal is right-but maybe not the way the driver intended. ”

Harriett intuitively understood that when a student physically nudged him or herself closer to her, it was because they needed more attention…and love-so she automatically slowed down to accommodate each individual need.

After wolfing down my hamburger on the way home… I realized that another thunderstorm was building. I still had my mobile phone and car keys in my hand when I noticed there were some branches and leaves that I wanted to drop off on the side of the road for a later pick-up.

After a few hauls… the bottom fell out of the sky-torrential rains. I had done it! As I gloated in my achievement, back inside, I went searching for my mobile phone! It should have been on the end table with the car keys since they were the only two things in my hands.

I tore the house apart-I couldn’t call my neighbors to call me so the ring would hopefully help me locate it since I had no phone… and by now the thunder and lightning were scary. I could feel panic mode starting to spread ( concerning the lost phone-not the thunderstorm) I ran back out to the car and looked in between cushions-under seats-but I remembered having the keys and phone together.

Then… a horrible thought started growing… What If… I accidentally threw the dark phone away with the branches and twigs-by now the water pouring down the sides of the road looked like a creek. I was soaked already so I ran back out again and began taking layers of debris off the pile and there was my little phone submerged but blinking a notice I had texts!

I was screaming in excitement… this couldn’t be true! I was ready to throw it in a bowl of rice but instead it was charged and blinking and winking at me! At least half an hour buried under debris and rushing water -yet here it ( ” took a licking and kept on ticking.” another sign. *** I think the incident meant that all is right with the world and all is right with Harriett!

So until tomorrow… When Hope appears to have disappeared… that is the time Faith steps in… with one giant footprint left behind.

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

PS…. I received some of the kindest comments from you wonderful readers concerning our joy at sharing our trip on earth with others and each other. Johnny Johnson, like Jo Dufford once said, reiterated he doesn’t consider what I do as ” blogging ” -he said it is ” writings ” and he sees a big difference between the two. So Johnny-from now on … I will be creating ” writings” and just hope I can live up to the symbol! 👍

Here’s to the last days of school-less summer, thunderstorms, waning heat, and miracles buried beneath debris and water.