Breakfast at Henry's

As hard as yesterday was in a physical sense for me, it yielded a joyous sigh of relief. My son who has in the past been a prisoner of anxiety, has chosen to not let this demon steal his dream.  It's been so long since Frank has been on a road trip, but he insisted on being the captain of the road, as we rocketed across the Grapevine to this beautiful city.  He chose courage and enthusiasm to be his lights as I watched him, smiling, greeting his future class and study mates.  My soul was thrilled over dinner, when he shared how he already connected with the faculty and leaders of his philosophical future.

Whew.  It's been a rough road, during which I often worried, cried and fretted about the future.  But there were so many times that I threw my hands up, yelling "WHEE!" and made it here in one piece.  The latter, were the times most worth remembering.

Frank slept in this morning so I put on a pretty skirt and scarf, grabbed an easy read, and headed down to the restaurant, Henry's.  There was one obvious choice on the menu, the Breakfast Banana Split!  It was a split banana with cottage cheese and vibrant fresh fruit, drizzled in a slightly sweetened raspberry sauce and roasted almonds.  Too pretty to eat, I took its picture and then dug in.  Damn, but life is good.  Looking around at all of the beautiful decor, including a big, white owl on the serving cabinet, I chose to let all the beauty of the moment fill in the spaces between all that was.

Dreaming about how much fun we are going to have today as we visit Moses Hall (the Philosophy hub at Berkeley), buying t-shirts, checking out more vegan restaurants, and talking about the excitement of Frankie's dreams... I remembered how hard and painful yesterday was.  I had to quit the orientation half way through because of my pain.  Looking down at my crutches I noticed how pretty the polished metal was in that beautiful glowing light of morning.  My heart took my thoughts away from my mind, reminding me of all that I have learned because of this injury, and in that moment I also pictured the woman who cleaned my hotel room yesterday.  Earlier in the morning I was angry when I realized that my favorite eye shadow was gone, but in that heart's bursting I wished her a feeling of joy- hoping that my gift made her feel more beautiful.

It is in that space, and that choice in every moment, that we have the ability to choose what we want to be... what we want to feel... and what we invite back to us.

Om nama shivaya!