At That Exact Moment

Dirk lived down the street from “breakfast” David. He was a part of the poker group for several years. He had two sons, twins, Jason and Jeff. Jason hung out at our house for most of his high school years. He looked upon my David as an older brother, liked Michael and had a crush on BZ. I was never quite sure if he hung out at our house because of the male bonding or female lusting. In any case, he was welcome.

Dirk died about a dozen years ago. He was spending the winter in Florida when he passed. His family, Jason, Jeff, and his wife Suzette held a Celebration of Life for him the following summer. They hosted it at their lake home and invited family and friends.   Ruth and I attended.

It was the first such celebration that I thought was truly a fitting summary of one’s life. I told Ruth that day, “When I’m gone, that’s what I want.” She agreed. We made an informal pact to honor one another that way. When she died, I did. Our entire family took part, but I wouldn’t have had the inspiration if I hadn’t attended Dirk’s.

All those memories played in my head as I listened to Vera’s, At This Moment. After listening, I had a second cup of coffee, checked out more things on my phone, finally took my shower and headed out. I was running about an hour later than I planned.

I looked left and right as I backed out of the driveway. I saw a man and woman at the top of the hill heading my way. I continued out and headed up the hill. The man offered a casual wave as I passed. That’s when I noticed he was Jason Greep. The same Jason who hung out at my house and who spoke at both his father’s and Ruth’s Celebration of Life. He lives in Florida and was walking down the hill as I was driving up.

I turned around and drove back down the hill to catch up with him. I stopped my car, rolled down the window and he introduced me to his wife, Julie. He told me they were visiting for a week. “We’re headed back tomorrow.”

As we spoke the events of the past two days flashed through my mind. I told Jason about my conversation with Elizabeth and the two Lena references. I told him that I would normally be having breakfast with David but instead listened to a song on my phone. The same song that his dad and I sang three dozen years ago in an airport. And then I pulled away from “breakfast” Dave’s an hour later than I planned and ran into him at that exact moment.

You can’t explain things like this. They just happen, and while I’m sure there’s something more to life than any of us can comprehend, I celebrate the moments when they come. We just have to be open to their appearance. Jason and Julie agreed.

I headed home after our brief exchange. Later that morning, I received the following text from Jason.

“What makes our visit even more interesting is we stopped for several minutes to watch deer. We were about twenty minutes behind schedule. If we wouldn’t have seen the deer we wouldn’t have been passing the house as you were leaving.”

I know. At that exact moment.