Girlfriend Night

Sometimes I want to share a story for selfish reasons to get it off my mind. This is one of them. Once it has been typed and posted, hopefully, the laughing will subside.

  Driving to Olathe from my house usually takes twenty minutes, but on a Friday night during rush hour traffic, it took forty five. I love Cedar street. The homes are tree lined, well lit and beautiful. When I was little, that is where the rich people lived or so I thought, now my friend Vicki lives there. The trailers were still in the driveway from the day's auction and it was so pitch dark, my daughter and I had to take baby steps.
"Ed, I know you're here, don't scare us!" I thought. Vicki's dad Ed was a joker with a big personality. Ghost hunters would love this guy! He came to our girlfriend parties after his wife died and then six months later, Ed joined her but I still felt like he was partying with us one last time.

  I was mad because I didn't take the torquoise bracelet when Ed was alive. He said, "take it! take whatever you want, pay me later, take it!" Mad too because I didn't have the patience to stand in line at the auction. Oh well, Debbie had made her famous Italian dinner with homemade marinara sauce and roast that had slow cooked all day with pasta. The bruchetta with heirloom tomatoes and fresh garlic dripped olive oil down my wrist and the cold Bourbon slushy erased any fears of Ed jumping out of the corner.

  We talked about jobs and co-workers, divorces and lawyers and Frank. "He came in the house after work and saw us women with the kids, house a mess and yelled about how he'd worked all day and why didn't we get anything done around here?" Vannessa said about her father-in-law. "Yea and then he watched the girls one Saturday afternoon for a couple of hours and when we came home we asked him what the heck was he doing all the time?" Vicki laughed. "Weren't you going to get dinner going?" "I was watching the girls!!" Frank had yelled.

  They are a loud bunch so I moved myself to the private living room to start the Tarot card readings. All the preparations were being made like lighting two white candles, praying and centering for protection and Divine guidance. I placed the amethyst crystal on the table and felt a cool breeze across my shoulders. "Did you feel that mom?" Hannah whispered. "No! Shh!" I said. My first "client" was waiting and I had to change hats.

  We are all so similar. Everyone wants to know if they're loved, if they are in the right place and who still thinks of them from their past. About this time, Hannah placed something in my hand from Vicki. It was a sterling silver bracelet with a torquoise stone and two feathers, handmade by Ed. A box had been overlooked by the auctioneer and inside was Ed's gold bracelet that Vicki had dearly loved, some pieces of handwritten recipes, lots of junk and my bracelet!

  "Dad did this! He wanted you to have it." Vicki said. "I wanted the gold bracelet but was afraid to get it because of the law suit with my brothers."
  "Well what do you know!" I thought. Six hours later, driving home, the moon was a radiant yellow and everything was cohesive. I felt loved, in the right place and knew that someone from my past loved still loved me. Next month, girlfriend night will be at my house. Think I'll make enchiladas.