Where the Laundry Room meets the Pet Play Park....

... there are real people-real in the sense of 'down to earth,' friendly and open...Susan from Ottawa; a mother and a grandmother of a 6 year old whom she misses... John from Carolina has a girlfriend of 4 years... Mia who has recently bought land in the Hill Country. They all have their stories which they share as they pass through and become a part of ours. 

I was particularly moved by meeting John and Mia. Both were at a cross-roads of sorts and had we not taken a few minutes to chat, I wouldn't have had a clue.

John is 18 and is getting sworn into the Marine Corps on Monday. He'll go to Boot Camp by the middle of April and considers his choice a smart move. John is a self-described outgoing person who feels that being a marine will lead to a better life for himself and his girlfriend. He will receive an education, see the world, be able to buy a house and have social security for when he retires in 20 years. John shared all of this with me, using his southern drawl, with bright eyes and an energetic manner as we did laundry and he had a smoke. (as a side note, did you know they have made cigarettes that burn out if you don't 'drag' on them for a while as a method of fire prevention?! Wow, I missed that along the line somewhere.)

John is 'ready to go' and is pumped about it. You can tell he can't wait to get started although admitting he is scared and doesn't know how his girlfriend or he will handle the separation. He thinks he'll likely have a couple of tours in Iraq-probably 6 months to a year each, maybe more. I asked him if he thought it may be any shorter with Obama in office. He said that it's pretty bad there now and will likely get worse before it gets better and therefore, not likely to be a shortened tour. 

This young man was so genuine and sincere-open the laundry door, shake your hand kinda guy-an open book ... so much awareness - yet still so young and impressionable. He says his girlfriend is concerned he will be brain washed, that he may get hooked on drugs and come back a different person. She doesn't want that to happen. They've seen it before in others who come back and try to adapt to 'normal' western life and find themselves paranoid just driving down the road that a bomb will go off beside them or that they are being followed-among the other ramifications of war.

Despite all of this, he is still psyched to get started and focuses on the future and experiences he will have by making this choice. I wished him good luck and told him he was very brave. Although, in my heart of hearts, I know he will come back a changed man-hopefully, he can use his experiences for good in the world and maintain his sparkle somehow. 

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Mia's story today centers around her choice of whether or not to say good-bye to her sick dog, Buddy. They have been best friends since she rescued him 12 years ago-and now Buddy has cancer and she has to decide whether or not she should take him to her land in the Hill Country and let him go or not. She had just been coming to terms with this and had been at peace as I approached the pet play park with Willow-and yet now she was questioning it again as she was seeing signs of the 'healthy' Buddy surfacing here and there. 

Mia is very connected to her dogs and easily befriended Willow and the boys. Lucas had run home yesterday after meeting them to tell me about how nice they were and all the neat places to take your dog for an off-leash experience near here. Mia related how great it was to meet the boys and Willow-and I was thinking again that wow, the dog park is a wonderful place to meet cool people. Mia reminded me of friends of my own which put me at ease. Her calm and centered spirit gave me comfort in this new place we are staying- someday maybe our paths will cross again. I'd love to see the Cobb home she builds on her land. I can just envision it now! 

Everyone has a story and decisions to make on a daily basis ... a reminder of how much we are the same despite our differences ... talking to strangers about their lives helps me to accept those differences and promotes an understanding of other points of view. These 'chance' meetings are special and while brief, can add up to quite significant moments in my life.