technicolor_circus lostgirl “good morning to you,” nita says, laughing with her knowing green eyes only slightly visible through her topsy turvy black curls. “they are waiting on you like you cannot believe, so you better get your running shoes on!” i am here to cover my brother in law while he is on vacation...in the place where mostly everyone already knows me, and if they don’t, they’ve been prepped to want to. and_so i float into the center ring, the unsuspecting star of their show. i’m confident, but it’s been awhile since i’ve done any real work, but okay, lights, camera, action and here we go...and with no acting skills needed, i just start doing my thing. healing takes energy and concentration mind you, so bearing that in mind... welcome to my day. first up is a former classmate slash guidance counselor slash bartender who is so damn good looking he can’t get out of his own way to find a suitable mate; running twice from the altar in the last two years. i have him figured out though. have since high school...he is intelligent and cute, has a good job...he is gay, is all i can say...and looking in the wrong arena for someone to spend his life with. doesn’t he know? then comes the sixty year old congressman’s aide with the ruptured disc that has just announced that he is absolutely NOT marrying his 30 year old fiancé because he is 60 years old, never been married, and does not intend to start being driven crazy. no way. okay, what’s next? breathe deep, here goes. its jean. she lost her husband a month ago. i knew because i had seen it in the paper. he was an old dude, so i just thought he passed naturally, so i offered my condolences thinking we’d leave it at that. well, he didn’t die of natural causes, and she needed to talk. and talk she did. he had a rotator cuff repair and died in the recovery room. holy jesus! what the hell?! they were married for 55 years, high school sweethearts. what do you say to that? next comes a sweet (beautiful) school teacher who left her CPA husband for the cook at the polish club. (yikes!) frankly, i’m rendered speechless. at this point i start to think i have either entered a soap opera or a reality show on VH1. but onward and upward we go, because they just keep on coming, like they are on parade to present their talents and stories all for me. we have the blended family next. barbie and ken parents and their four kids...twin boys and twin girls all 4 years old. his girls, her boys. i think to myself, you cannot possibly be serious!” they arrive and leave like a whirling dervish, a literal confetti tornado of candy wrappers. whoa, its lunchtime, and my belly is telling me that the bistro is calling. i can taste the portobello panini right now, but wait! she tells me there is someone here to talk to me before i leave. a walk-in?!? they know i don’t see walk-ins, what the fu... oh, its ellen. “hey ellen” i say. “you caught me by accident but its okay, what’s up?” and don’t you know she whips open her blouse right there in the open room, intending to expose her dialysis port in her right upper chest to me (as she ignores the three men sitting in the chairs.) okay, yes, i’m thinking, i see it, now close your boobs back up! holy shit~ she gave those men a show they were not expecting, because she may have a port, but she also has a huge chest. head shaking i walk her out and go get my lunch. is there more? you betcha. helen is here! helen is my dad’s cousin, and she has been coming every wednesday since the beginning of time, not once forgetting to bring peanut butter hershey kiss cookies with her. she cannot to save her life remember my name or where she lives, but she can bake like a maniac. score! who’s next? it’s the birthday girl. its her birthday week we are told. and she proceeds to share with us how her husband gives her a present for each day of her birthday WEEK, culminating in the super duper grand prize on her actual birthday, which is today. (i’m secretly divided between thinking her husband is a complete sap or that he should give training to other husbands.) but when she whips out her ring finger and flashes the most dazzling eternity band i’ve ever seen, i opt for the latter. this dude is on my a-list for sure. score for the birthday girl! as the day comes to a close, and mind you these are just the highlights, nita comes back with a huge smile and tells me thanks for making the day so much fun for them. we helped a lot of people today. my brother in law must be a stick in the mud and quite boring, because there is nothing not rewarding about helping people and sharing their lives at the same time. the three women then collectively give me a huge group hug! and then they told me that i should go home and take a shower to get all those people off of me. when i asked why, they told me they counted the hugs i received. 31_hugs is a lot of people on you...but hey, they were the stars of my show. it_was_all_worth_it 100715 what's it to you? who go blather from