A long, lovely day
An unexpectedly lovely day. The morning class was small enough to intensively work with each student; as their needs were mutually supportive, got to set them up for a regular class with more ‘tools’- great opportunity to use special skills!
Then a little help to friends with an unusually daunting spring yard cleanup; they began early and the ground wet so lees help than anticipated… My mate worked his second job today; feeling stressed so I went home and had a lovely nap.
Fresh in the evening for the Brookside art fair!
We visited the artist who had lost her partner and husband of 22 years. As my mate knew him before she met him, he shared a special memory of that time that brought tears to her eyes several times, but ones of healing, sorrow mixed with joy… She has been honed by the experience, still bearing deep marks of caring for a beloved terminally ill person, but the experience has softened rather than embittered her, making her more lovely than before, a wise, good woman with a clear mind and heart.
Serendipitously we met old friends as well; warmly greeted by an old acquaintance with her delightful British accent, her daughter a most lovely child- and discovered she knows well my mate’s cousin’s family! Naturally we planned to get our children, all of an age, together for the summer…
The others were a couple who we spent much time with while our sons were small, the children grew up together in each others’ houses for several years, absorbing Baha’i and Farsi together… until their family moved to the far edge of the metro. It had been a terrible two years for them; the husband’s mother, and then within a few months, unexpectedly, his sister, died, both in Iran and he could not go… but he was so glad to see us, and we could get together surely once over summer when their children are out of school…
An actual purchase at the art fair this year! A belt for my mate.
The level of skill was more inspiring than the last Plaza one had been. There were some incredibly lovely quilts doing delightful things with color; decent wood and leather crafts. Glass and ceramics interesting, and an incredible pencil artist, oh my.
One current friend called this evening, lack of contact over health concerns, no one knows what is wrong. Another friend overextending into a crash. So tired of seeing others self-destruct… My mate included, but mildly; him I can take care of, and him I can nurture. And do.