March 5 -- After the events of this week, I suddenly saw myself at our new favorite wine and beer store, shopping for, wait for it...wine and beer. Brian and I spontaneously invited some friends over tonight and we needed to stock up. (Due to the fact that stress drinking had basically decimated our supply...)
Anyway, when I got to the store, there was nobody there. I had some time so I wandered throughout the shop reading wine labels. I talked to the manager for a while, picking his brain about bargain wines. At some point, the back door opened and an older man walked in looking fairly bedraggled and worn. He was unshaven and his hair was a mess. He was in and out of the store within minutes but for some reason, after I left the store I couldn't get the image of him out of my mind. The contrast between us was so distinct -- I was there with my running pants and gym clothes on doing wine research and thinking about what else I needed to host the gang coming over tonight. And he came in, grabbed his six pack and left. At two in the afternoon. I don't know why but I suspected he wasn't going to share that beer with friends. Or maybe he was. But I doubted it. Not when I considered the look of sadness I saw quickly pass over his face before he turned and shut the door behind him.
I thought about him again tonight after everyone left. It was so much fun to catch up with friends Brian and I haven't really seen during this unbelievably long winter. Swapping kid stories...sharing parenting insights. Somehow, as the evening wore on, any leftover stress I might have had about Riley and the baseball saga or any of the other current issues with the other kids just abated. I wondered to myself -- did that man have someone he could call? Someone who might offer him solace, or advice or make him laugh?
I don't know. But I pray that he does. Because having friends is, indeed, an amazing blessing. Right up there with beer and bargain bottles of good wine. (kidding.) Okay. Not kidding. No really. Kidding. Sigh.
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