Not all days are brilliant, but some days are. At the end of some days, you just smile as you think back on all the wonderful things that have happened. Some days, you get an extra special cherry on top. Today I got a cherry on top. Anderson sent me an e-card. :)
I'm not sure when he wrote it or why he chose today to send it. Every single time I wonder if this one is the last one I'm gonna get. I watched P.S. I Love You a few years ago and I bawled like I'd never bawled while watching a movie. It's a VERY good thing I watched it at home, alone in my room and not in a theater. I probably used half a tissue box that night. And after I watched it once, I think I watched it again. That movie hit so close to home... but I also remember thinking that Anderson wouldn't ever plan those things for me. He was never a huge planner. He was more go-with-the-flow. I was pretty sad back then, thinking that he'd probably never leave me anything of himself after he'd pass on. Although e-cards and webcam videos aren't the same as a trip to Europe... he did leave me bits and pieces for me to find later on... and to remind me that he loved me.
I spent this past weekend on the east coast. I went out there with a little bit of emotional turmoil and a pretty bad case of motion sickness, but at every turn, it seemed like God left little love notes for me to find, open, and bask in the warmth (despite the frigid weather) of experiencing little bursts of love all over the place. K that was a really long and weird sentence that probably didn't make much sense, but you kinda get what I mean. I felt loved. I really felt loved.
Let's see... at the airport, I ran into a high school friend who just so happened to be on the same flight to NYC as me. We caught up over some outrageously overpriced Burger King since our flight was delayed a couple hours. After getting to NY, I got 2 big hugs from my good friends from college and we pretty much laughed and made fun of each other nonstop the entire weekend as they guided me on my eating tour of Manhattan/Brooklyn and as I dragged them to Philly and onto my non-stop friendship tour on my last day in NY.
I'm not an extroverted person. Myers Briggs always labels me Introverted. I'm usually drained by the time I'm done hanging out with one or two people. Not true lately. The whole weekend was non-stop going out, eating out, meeting up with people, shopping, people watching on the subway... and ending the day chit chatting with my bed buddies. I loved every minute of it.
I loved waking up early to go get awesome pancakes... and then getting lox/bagels/cream cheese, pastrami sandwiches and matzo ball soup as we waited for pancakes. I loved walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and then devouring the best pizza ever... and then going to get ice cream afterwards in 40 degree weather. I loved watching Zombieland with my friends and then making silly movie references all weekend long. Cardio. Double Tap. I loved having Amish breakfast with an awesome friend. Those apple dumplings ROCKED! I loved randomly calling a friend and being able to meet up with them cuz they just so happened to be a block away at the time I called. I loved running up the same steps that Rocky ran up and then taking goofy pictures at the top. I loved having cheese steaks and fries with cheese whiz in the rain... and then getting gelato afterwards. Pineapple and sage somehow go really well together in a sorbetto. Even though I felt nauseous, I still loved going to eat pumpkin pancakes and then ending up eating everyone else's food cuz mine made me more nauseous. I loved taking soup and juice to a sick friend and then thawing out and catching up in her awesome apartment. And I love Zabar's. Zabar's made me love paninis. Meeting up with more friends and a cousinish over hot paninis... warm awesomeness. Warm, gooey cookies and milk after paninis. Yummers. And then shoe shopping at the biggest Macy's EVER. More awesomeness. Church service was about friendship and fellowship, using Jonathan and David as an example... quite fitting. I loved going to eat... uh... French Mexican food and getting tangled up in their halloween decorations. And then meeting up with a friend I hadn't seen since 7th grade! Too, too awesome. Late night grocery shopping and Japanese peach gummies... watching hilarious home videos, trying to pronounce the ingredients to Chinese "sinus tea" and climbing into an outrageously large Macy's bag... loved it all.
Even when I got back home... I got taken out to eat yummy pizza in LA and then Rite Aid ice cream. I'm definitely 5 pounds happier. Don't worry, I worked out when I got home too. I'm probably going to have to work out pretty hard to undo the fatty indulgence/damage from this weekend, but it was SO worth it.
I had a super awesome weekend. God's little love notes were strewn all along my path these past few days. Love notes mean so much more coming from someone who truly loves you and knows you. Anderson's notes were mostly silly to make me laugh... but also silly to remind me to take it easy and take breaks because he knew I tended to overextend myself and get stressed out. Much in the same way, God's love notes to me were sent to speak exactly where I needed it and in the way I needed it. I'm not really in need of more food or external padding, but I do love me some good eats. All these friends... all the laughs... really spoke to my heart and lifted me up and out of whatever gunky mess I'd put myself in previously.
So when I got Anderson's e-card. I smiled. I didn't cry. My heart didn't wrench. I smiled and my heart smiled. It was the perfect love note cherry on top of a rich and gloriously delicious weekend.
I LOVED this entry. :)
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