I won the Lottery!!!!!
(If you want the back ground on this, read "Flying By The Seat Of My Pants" first - posted Aug 7th.)
When I got off the plane in Myrtle Beach, sure enough, no one was there.
After a couple of phone calls, I found out that I’d be staying at the home of the couple that was going to pick me up. I cringed. The news was a bit of a buzz kill. I was hoping for a hotel near the beach, now I was sure I’d be staying with someone’s grandparents, or by the looks of the crowd there, someone’s great-grandparents.
This hip chick comes striding through the airport with the confidence of a honky suburban Grace Jones - and I felt like a dog in a pound, my eyes got huge and my soul sang "pick me!"
That's Kelli. She's awesome. It was like a reunion with an old friend, that I had never met before. And her husband? I told him I was mostly a Vegan and the next morning the kitchen counters looked like the fruits of Costa Rica had thrown up on them. That's Gary. He's rediculously kind. Now, they have a teenage son at home, that can either make or break your stay in someone's home. If teenager doesn't like you, he can send a vibe that feels like a skunk smells. But the second night, I got a hug good night. I melted. How nice of him to accept me in his home, litterally with open arms. That's Cole. He's totally cool.
I may or may not get a product out of this, but I know I got friends for life. They were an inspiration to see that people can be so in love and happy with each other after 20 years of marriage, an inspiration in how to be so gracious, thoughtful, and giving. Every thought of a need I had was met above and beyond how I even take care of myself! In other words, they took care of me better than I do.
Now, they say I was a blessing to them too. How, I don’t know. Can’t imagine. But I guess that’s not for us to know sometimes. Maybe just having someone to talk to and laugh with can feel like a relief. Maybe I just offered a tiny bit of relief? I let them know that I felt I won the “host family lottery” with them – and maybe feeling appreciated made them feel good about themselves. Perhaps my blessing was no life changing epiphany, but gave some sparkle to some moments. And that’s all life is, a series of moments.
I thought I went to Myrtle Beach to tape a show. Who knows what will happen to the video. Maybe it will get national distribution and help make me famous; maybe I’ll never see the footage. The best part of the trip was meeting The Wadstens. Our new friendship gave us all some great moments to remember, which has made all of our lives richer. (But I still want the tape to come out rad and make me rich and famous. Come one, I can't end a blog all that drippy!)