The luck of the traveler, or spirit-guide, has led me to a nicer sendoff on my journey than I expected. I travel from home in North Carolina by flying to Dulles International on Saturday 13th May, to stay overnight at a local hotel to wait for my nonstop flight to Europe on Sunday eve. I had expected I would be alone in my thoughts and prayers on Saturday evening, perhaps tossing and turning as my body anticipates the long journey.
BUT, serendipity colludes with family and friends: my son Shep is eager to join me on Saturday eve and Sunday morn, making the 3.5 hour drive to help send me off. Then, with little hope of making a connection, I text a dear old friend from college days, still living in DC with his bride of many years. First surprise: they are in town and available to dine with me and my son, though they always seem to be off on their own journeys. Second: they are (coincidentally?) flying to Ireland on Sunday evening from the same international concourse at Dulles. My friend Steve is the master of knowing the right restaurants for such impromptu gatherings, and Shep and I will meet them at Spices on Connecticut Avenue in NW DC.
CALLOO CALLAY! HOORAH HOORAY! This joining of people promises to generate much divine energy to impel our respective journeys. I have not seen Steve and his wife for several years. They last saw my son Shep when he was about five or six years old, when we visited their DC home from ours in New Jersey. Little Shep could barely clamber up the steep wooden stairs to the third-floor guest room. Now he towers over us, brave and bold as a former Marine and current civil engineer. Shep is husband to Nurse Morgan, and father to Great Baby Sophie. I have not seen my granddaughter S since November, when she was a mere month old.
I will look forward to seeing her in late June: that will be my next journey after returning from Estonia, Sweden, etc.
Following the Spirit 