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| Yin and yang – Wikipedia |
When she walked into Buzzy’s yesterday and grabbed a 6 pack of wine coolers, she had no way of knowing that she would be something of an angel coming to pull me out of a dark funk. Here is why.
The family of my tenant Glenn, who passed away a couple weeks ago, came down to his apartment behind Buzzy’s yesterday to clean out his possessions. I met and discussed with them what they planned to take and to leave. As we went through his apartment and I saw the photos of him and his Mom, a framed drawing of Pt Lookout Lighthouse, and all of his various trinkets and paraphernalia including lots of Redskins-related items, it all made me very sad.
I was sad not because he was a Redskins’ fan mind you, but because he was a good guy who died when he didn’t have to. Glenn was a diabetic who elected not to get the vaccine opting instead, in his own words, to “Put his trust and faith in the good Lord.”
Well, despite his avowed trust and faith, he got Covid in mid January and was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital. He was then transferred to a hospital in Laurel and placed in intensive care for several weeks. He passed away on 15 March (click here for his obit.) His funeral was held last week.
Because I was away at the time, I didn’t get to attend any of the services for Glenn. I know that funerals are not everybody’s thing, but I have found thru the years that, for me at least, they do serve a purpose of allowing me to say goodbye to someone I knew and liked. And while I am not a big fan of the concept of “closure” I do concede that there may be something to be said for it.
Thus, yesterday after talking to Glenn’s family and heading back in to open up Buzzy’s Store all of a sudden Glenn’s passing sort of hit me like a wave and bummed me out big time. Glenn was a nice guy who, as I said, simply did not have to go out of here like he did. It called to mind paraphrasing the old saying that “God overworks us in mysterious ways.”
Back in Buzzy’s, shortly after I opened a young lady walked in. At first I thought she was an undercover plant sent in to see if I would or would not sell alcohol to someone underage. She placed a six pack of wine coolers on the counter and began explaining how she and her husband had just purchased a house in Scotland Beach and how excited they were to be moving into it in a couple of weeks. She explained how her parents had lived here previously and how much they all liked the area. The house that she and her husband purchased needs some repairs before they can move in but she said they were excited about the opportunity to be living on the water and couldn’t wait to do so.
Just that little exchange with her helped alter and elevate my mood. It brought back some very nice memories of when I purchased my first house many moons ago and how exciting a time in my life that was. I thought about how I was even more excited to eventually purchase a place on the water to repair and fix up the way I wanted.
After some more conversation, the young lady then paid for her 6 pack and told me that she and her husband would definitely be stopping back in sometime. Someday I will tell her just how much she helped me take a sad song and make it better.
And speaking of songs, Pam and I had a cabana on the top deck of the cruise ship and when this song played one very pleasant afternoon I found myself smiling, singing along to it and feeling very content. For some reason it seems appropriate to replay it here for you. Maybe it has to do with the line “No one wants to be lonely, no one wants to sing the blues.”