Things don’t always go as planned, right?  Normally, when we have visitors I make them a pie.  Not this time.

I meant to make our recent guests a pie.  They arrived from Australia with the intention of visiting here in Albuquerque, then seeing more friends in Denver and Portland, finishing up in San Francisco before flying home again from Los Angeles.  Nice trip!  It was their first visit here and I was ready to show them around New Mexico, wine and dine them a bit, even serving up a “blue ribbon” pie.

As things unfolded, I was made aware again that we aren’t in charge of much and that it’s good to allow for mystery. [More than the mystery of how to succeed with meringue!]  The usual jet lag and dehydration seemed to take their toll on our gentleman friend, and his wife and Havens and I thought he’d recover after a good night’s sleep and plenty of water.  Instead, his health continued to fade.

Of course our attention turned to his care.  Plans for touring were cancelled, meals were had quietly, the great scotch we’d intended to share over laughs was shelved, and concern grew.  Eventually he ended up in the hospital, then hospice.  He died there are few days ago.

I share this with you because it has been a wonderful experience.  That may sound surprising, and it is even to me.  The truth is, we have found a sense of wonder and peacefulness about this process, as challenging as it has been.  It has allowed us to give from the heart, to stay in the present, to “hold space for what is,” and to expand with a sense of knowing that, somehow, everything was turning out as it was meant to.  We have embraced the mystery and found love everywhere we looked.

There’s a sweetness to this that goes way beyond pie. 

Blessings and love, Rebecca