Every Path Has Its Puddles

I heard this statement the other day, and immediately wrote it down on the note pad on the table next to my bed.

This statement can be taken two ways, as I see it.  A puddle can be an obstruction on one’s journey, or it can be an opportunity for a little bit of fun.  I choose to select option Number 2.

I remember loving rainy days as a child.  If there was no electricity in the air in the form of lightning and thunder, Mama would let me go outside with my raincoat, umbrella, and galoshes to play in the puddles.  My best friend, Marcia, and I spent many happy hours sloshing through the puddles and playing in the gutters of our street.   We’d come back into the house soaked from our ankles to our knees, where Mama would have hot chocolate and home-made cookies waiting for us. 

More recently, I enjoyed a rainy afternoon with Brian, who had flown down from New York City to be with me.  It was a steamy day in July, the day after I sneaked  out of my home.  I had met Brian at the home where I would be spending the next two months of my life.   We were sitting on the deck enjoying a glass of wine at my temporary home when a shower blew in.  We watched it rain for a few minutes when we decided that we needed to play in the rain.  We ran out onto the open portion of the deck and began to dance and twirl, lifting our faces toward heaven, and letting the rain completely soak us.  The little girl in me had been reawakened. We laughed and cried and hugged, getting soaked from head to toe with the fresh rainwater.    I think this was the first step for me in my healing from the ordeals of the past five months.   

Yes, I’ll choose to look at puddles along my path as a good thing.  It’s too much of a temptation for having a little fun!  And besides, as my Daddy used to remind me, I’m not made of sugar, so I won’t melt!