A Weekend of Blessing, Birthday and Bliss

It was busy few days last weekend for both Nick and us. He had to be on-call, so his visit had to be postponed to the following weekend. We will see him and Paulie soon!

We started to feel the heat of the weekend since Friday February 21, 2020. An invitation arrived for me to join the Recorded Books Advisory Board, and renewed book proposal from Cambridge Scholars.

Around noon, Saturday February 22, Father Milutin called to ask if he could come an hour earlier than planned to bless our home, and I had to say Yes, even though Paul just lied down to nurse his headache. After the phone call, Paul and I sprang to action to be ready for him.

Ten minutes later, Father arrived in his full length black robe and white collar. Without too much ado, he started blessing for all of us living and then the Dear Departed. He then sprinkled Holy Water around our living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms, and our mini-Costco of a garage, with me holding the water bowl and Paul reading from the Scripture. Once the interior was covered, he proceeded to the side-yard, backyard and front-yard where I asked him for a special blessing on our ailing lemon tree which had died many deaths over last two decades and more. He did and commented rightly that it at least bore fruits. He also blessed the '57 Chevy truck, RAV4, and Camry. Apparently the Chevy was his favorite. He had to leave right away, as he had a full schedule ahead of him.

For some reason, we both felt so happy and lightened after Father Milutin's visit. In that blissful milieu, we decided to give my paper on Eddy a final polishing. At three o'clock, we sent the draft paper to Prof. Buckland who responded with a long message three hours later while I was preparing fillings for dumplings.

The next day, Sunday, February 23, we spent almost all day outside, exercising at 24 Hour Fitness, going to church, walking along West Cliff, attending Alverda's 90th birthday party at St. Joseph, and watching the sunset at Moran Beach.

It was a blissful weekend to be with family and friends: FaceTime with Nick's family, talking to sister, and gathering together with church and library friends. Besides congratulating Alverda and meeting her twin daughters, sons-in-laws, and grandson, we Awesome Three,  Heidi, Pam and I, who used to staff the Reference desk and Telephone Reference for many years, with Donna being our lead, were now having a great time, covering all topics to catch up with each other.