My Daughter is "Cool"!!!

At our office we serve many people such as me who are on parole, probation or have been sentenced to some type of program. I guess it was inevitable that I would encounter someone from my past as I too weaved my way through the criminal justice system not too long ago. Yesterday it happened as I noticed a familiar face sitting in the waiting room and I did place the face as someone who I had met before but I wasn’t certain.

I ascertained the person’s name and yes, it was someone who I shared a cell with as I started out my journey almost two years ago through the prison system. The person was at the office to enroll in a program and I didn’t want to breach any confidentially or for that matter I really didn’t have the guts to go up to the person and introduce myself. I very much doubt this person recognized me and the only reason I was able to remember this person’s name was that it was a name of another friend from a previous life.

The world is indeed small in so many ways and still being connected to the judicial system makes my world smaller. There could very well be more encounters like this in my future and just like every aspect of my life I will take these; one encounter at a time. As for now I am very happy to be on the “other end” of the spectrum and based on the very great news of yesterday this does confirm (as if there were any doubts) that my life continues to work out for the very best.

I received a few congratulatory emails from dear friends on the good news of yesterday. It has been a long road but it is the road I have been meant to take for a very long time. I’m not sure if I would categorize it as “pre-destined” but there is a plan for all of this seemingly madness. It hasn’t been madness as much as it has been serenity. I am in the right place and a place I have searched for. The problem being I wasn’t actively searching for it until I committed myself to recovery.

Now being in recovery brings a method to all of this madness and in a short few days I will be with the three most important people in my life; my wife, daughter and son. I love them with all my being and have always loved them with all my being. I did take many things for granted and I know now that those things can be taken away in an instant. I have such a deeper appreciation for life and everything associated.

I had my last “Wednesday Evening” dinner with my dear friends since my family is returning I cannot attend these wonderful meetings. Last night wasn’t an exception and I even had a special “off the menu” dish prepared for me by the very talented chef. The meal consisted of pasta primavera over marinara sauce and it was delicious. I was given an ample portion and ate the entire thing. I can most certainly eat when I want and yesterday I enjoyed every bit along with every piece of the wonderful conversation. I will continue to say this; I am blessed in so many ways and over these past four months these blessings have been very real.

The dinner concluded and it was time to head back home or actually my temporary home. Today I officially took occupancy of the rental house but I won’t physically move in there until the weekend or until I can get a bed in one of the bedrooms. Last night it was back to my dear friends’ house and we had another one of those great conversations. I will miss these conversations just like I have missed the conversations with my roommate but the time has come to move on. I will cherish these times and draw on a reservoir of goodness as I move forward in this journey. The conversation ended and I went to sleep. Unlike the previous night where I had no problem falling asleep I couldn’t seem to get to sleep. I was still very excited from all of the good news and I was also thinking about the move. I finally fell asleep much later then usual.

I woke up and headed to the gym for a workout since I missed my workout yesterday. I have changed things up once again and I am enjoying the flexibility in my workout. I shortened many of the sessions and had a very intense 7 mile run which was a wonderful way to start my day. After the workout I headed to the office for my last day of work for the next two weeks. I needed to get a few things in order and I also needed to get a few things in order for the house along with the move.

I secured a moving truck for tomorrow and Saturday through a good friend. I have help moving from a very dear friend and this is a new very dear friend. This help comes in the form of my sponsoree who has made incredible strides in a very short timeframe. It will be the two of us tomorrow moving boxes and seeing how much of the furniture (if any) we can move before Saturday. On Saturday I have “professional” help but since my funds are a little low I need to get as much as possible done tomorrow but I won’t kill myself.

I also had all of the utilities turned on at the new house along with having the cable, telephone and internet installed. This is all made so easy now that one company provides all three of these services for a reasonable rate. The pricing is a bit confusing because it is all “bundled” and taking one item out of the bundle is not exactly cost effective even if I could replace on piece with a seemingly less expensive service. Whoever has priced these packages is very astute because the one company bundle works best and fortunately I won’t need this until we all get back from our cross country trip. This was the last piece in all of the utilities for the house and we are all ready to go.

It was a long day at work because I wanted to make my absence over the next two weeks as painless as possible for the company. I certainly know that anyone could do my job; however; I am not sure if anyone at my company would “want” to do my job which is why I made everything as simple as possible. Unfortunately the company isn’t in the best financial shape and with me making it simple I had to take this variable into consideration. Things are tight and other then the owner (along with me) no one knows how tight so my directions were very simplistic. I completed all that I wanted to complete and ended the day with a very nice dinner with a very good friend.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my daughter’s reaction when I asked her if she would be at the airport when I came in on Monday. Since I am arriving at midnight I asked her if she was coming to the airport or staying home to sleep. My daughter answered without hesitation, “Are you kidding me, I am not going to be asleep I WILL be at the airport to see you!!!” I had a feeling she would say this and it was great to hear!!