There's nothing like the smell of freshly cut cantaloupe to transport me 40 years back to my Grandma Blubaugh's country kitchen. And the smell of an approaching summer thunderstorm immediately conjures up memories of Good News Camp where Colleen, Bill and I shared some of the best summers of our childhood (outside of Cape Cod, of course).
Adversely, a 'Waste Management' garbage truck passed me in traffic the other day and for the moment my mind went back to when I was 16 and my first impression of Haiti as I stepped off the small Florida Air 'puddle jumper' at the Port-au-Prince airport. Never before in my young life had I smelled such an odor, the stench of poverty in actuality.
Unfortunately for me, a garbage smell also reminds me of riding through the streets of Shenzhen, China in the company van. For the 16 months I taught there, every morning, the masked women with straw-thatched whisk brooms would be sweeping the streets into garbage piles only to lift those same piles into plastic barrels. YUCK!
Paul wrote to the church in Corinth in 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 about what are lives say to others. To some we are as vibrant as honeysuckle on a warm spring night or as delightful as a lilac blossom from a neighbor's garden. To others we are as a stench of rotting waste piled in the streets in the humid tropics!
Well, these images and thoughts have been wafting through my mind this week as my friend (and present boss) Ibi returned to the small office where I'm spending my summer. She was gone for 7 working days and it seemed like an eternity emotionally. We have such a wonderful warm bond between the two of us! In contrast, this week flew by as we 'knocked out' the work and enjoyed the shared time. Even an hour's lunch seemed like a vacation to another place!
Yesterday she kept asking me about where I wanted to go for lunch and I didn't have any preference and didn't really answer. She pressed me for a real answer even as we drove to where we thought we had agreed upon; when all of a sudden, she passed a restaurant which a friend had recommended, Tamarind.
"Do you like Thai? Do you want to go there?"
"Oh yes!" was my instant reply.
It was where we were to be for our Friday afternoon lunchtime. The restaurant was decorated nicely. It had the feel of Thailand with napkin rings of dainty pink tropical flowers. The salad was refreshing and filling. We raved about it as we shared more of our lives. The pad thai was ginger-spiced and peanut-y delicious! The lingering conversation over the plain white pot of jasmine tea completed the aura of our Thai get-away!!!!!!!!!
Driving back to the office I remarked to her how unique our relationship is. She is old enough to be my mother and her daughters are about my age yet it's not one like that.
It has a shading of that but more than anything we are friends who simply enjoy each other's company. I had a similar relationship with my own mom.
My mom was my best friend and we treasured all the moments we had together. In the nine and a half years of her absence I have never sought to replace her with a mother figure. Likewise, I haven't imagined finding another to share such a wonderful bond. Ibi and I have that! I'm so thankful. It's easy. It's special. It's nothing short of divine!
For instance, we worked together this week, shared lunchtimes together and hadn't planned to see each other this weekend. I had a friend over late last night and didn't get to sleep until past 2 am. However, when the phone rang only 7 hours later on my morning to really sleep in I wasn't sure if I wanted to answer it. I discovered it was Ibi and immediately wanted to hear what she was thinking. She 'invited' me to go into work and do some unfinished things and then go to lunch together. I didn't have to think about it.... SURE! I got ready and was to work even before she arrived. =)
We got things done and went to the Festival Flea Market Mall to a Jewish deli for lunch where we found an available bench and 'people-watched' as we ate and chatted. Next we strolled through the Hillsborough Antique Mall which was a journey across the continents to times past and present. My head spun with memories and dreams as we browsed. It was a pure delight to be with her!
Conversely, I have spent time with others who seem to just zap the life from me. They take. They exhaust. They don't give. They don't replenish. Nor do they share with you. It's so hard to have a relationship with them. Every step with them seems to be so much work. It takes more energy than you can imagine or sometimes want to give. There's no reciprocality. There's no give and take. All these relationships in my life have ended up like the pile of trash swept by the Chinese women of Shenzhen: lifeless, wasted, spent, done!
So, my thought this afternoon is about The Way You Make Me Feel. If you are reading this, more than likely, I've shared this blog with you because you and the friendship which we share are a lovely fragrance in my life!
(I sigh and take a deep breath) Ahhhhhh..... the fanning pages of a newly-printed book.... a summer's late afternoon rain shower..... waking up on Thanksgiving morning to a roasting turkey.... the first night after the Christmas tree has been brought in the house.... fresh baguettes of bread baking across the alley in Marrakech....
