The flooding on Long Beach Island cleared, so my mom and I were able to have most of our scheduled time there. The weather was beautiful, the sunrises gorgeous, and the company excellent. We went for walks, saw the musical Vanities, read books, talked about everything, remembered my stepfather, and watched murder mysteries. At one restaurant where my mom and stepdad had gone many times over the past several years, we told the server about his death. We said she might remember him because he would have talked to her a lot and maybe held her forearm while talking. Her eyes got wide and she gasped with delighted recognition and remembrance. We saw dolphins many times! Usually we just saw traces of a fin, but one day I happened to get a picture of a dolphin fully leaping.
Remarkably, there was also a dolphin in Pittsburgh that morning! And it was pink!
Before my drive home yesterday, the timing worked perfectly for me to attend a memorial service for one of my sixth grade teachers. In my elementary school, each classroom had two teachers. My other sixth grade teacher and I have stayed in touch ever since I saw him walking in the woods next to my college many years ago. In college, I babysat for his kid, who idolized Carl because he was a volunteer firefighter. I was glad to see my living teacher yesterday and give him a hug, and it was meaningful to sit in the same Friends’ Meetinghouse that I attended during grade school and to hear about how many people loved the teacher who died. The only peculiar thing was that the Meetinghouse was smaller than I remembered.
I left the memorial service early so I had time to see my stepmom and brother before driving home. We sorted through some bins of stuff that used to belong to my dad, so now I have a few more things to find a home for in my house. The most exciting acquisition is a large glass jar with a green lid that held flour since I was knee-high to a duck.
It was a full day for me and on the home front. Carl had a rowing race and won first and third! Grandma and Grandpa, who had helped all week, took the girls to see the regatta and to an Octoberfest.
May you see something that you find as exciting and remarkable as a leaping pink dolphin.
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