Real Beauty

Something beautiful happened to me over this last weekend. I did not win the lottery, I did not get married, give birth to a healthy baby, nor did I meet the man of my dreams, I did not lose that five pounds, I did not run the marathon, no wrinkles were lost from my face, I did not get laid, I did not find the meaning to life, solve my financial issues, answer all my questions about me and why I am fucked up...no no, not yet.
The above all beautiful things to happen to a person for sure. No this past weekend I spent a magical day and a half with my mom. We drove across the bay bridge to Virginia Beach on Saturday morning. Her lively, even you could say bubbly with anticipation self driving us and I, hunched over, barely breathing, hung over, sleep deprived yet showered sitting next to her in the passenger seat. The sun was shining, the water glimmered, and seagulls perched on the bridge rail, braced against the wind as if Hercules’ blood coursed through their little bodies. We listened as the radio channeled the Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me program out to our ears, our hearts, our minds, causing us to laugh and think all at once.
Two women in a car. Two women bound by DNA, friends by choice. A mother and a daughter. Sisters at heart.
We went to the mall. I don’t know the name. Neither relevant to the story nor matter since all malls look the same. Possess the same items, people and importance. The country mice were in the city and they were having a good time. We got lost in the mall, walked in circles and all the while giggling and snorting. We ate lunch at Chili’s and it was actually good. We spent an hour in Bath and Body Works. Smelling, rubbing on lotion after lotion and all the while just laughing. We were in love with the store. We left, came back and bought a variety of small bottles of lotion. All filled with a unique and delicious smell. We felt content with our small purchases, superior to those around us carrying large, and brand name labeled shopping bags. We saw a movie and at one point in it we laughed so hard (Will Farrell so go figure) that I peed just a wee bit in my pants. My Mom did not take a breath for half a second. We spent the night in an Ecnolodge on the beach. Watched cable television – a treat for us country gals – Read our books freshly purchased from the larger than life Barnes and Noble bookstore just that very night. Ate sushi and drank hot tea. We poked fun at others, at ourselves, politics and argued lightly on the number of sushi pieces we each consumed. All is fair in love and sushi I believe the saying goes. We woke to the shore below us sounding the beginning of a new day. Hotel coffee brewed in minutes, showers with hot water and pressure thrilled us. More lotion, more teasing was had and off to a new day. We went to a health food store, a hippie bookstore and loaded up on incense and dreamed of buying the lavish finger puppets on display as we chomped down on organic grilled cheese sandwiches and slurped homemade tomato bisque. We grabbed yummy fattening coffee drinks from one of the million Starbucks on our way back toward the bridge, toward the shore, the country, home.
My Mom fell asleep as I drove us over the ocean, waves crashing softly beneath our car, the same seagulls I suspect now resting calming on the rail, another day survived. Home in time for the sun to greet us before resting for the early evening. Welcomed by a large and loving dog whose heart I am sure was filled with hope of dog biscuits to come.
Red wine did we drink as she cleaned the kitchen and I cleaned my room, my bathroom; the spaces I know possess and cherish. Incense burned, music played and circumstance appreciated as the evening drifted on toward Monday.
Not unusual. Not spectacular by any celebrity standards I know. A day and a half with my mother. A day and a half with my best friend. Beautiful.