LUCK OF THE DRAW

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THE MORNING was chilly. The rain-dampened sidewalks dried in time for the invited pastors to assemble for lunch at the Manor and the dining room was filled with people of the cloth. Pray tell, where were the residents to dine? Downstairs, that's where. Tables had been set up, part of the kitchen crew were serving.......dinner went off without a hitch.

  

The special Manor salad was followed by pork loin garnished with apple slices, roasted potatoes and a medley of vegetables. Dessert was a maple pumpkin cheesecake topped with almond brittle. Sigh....................


Each table held two centerpieces of posies in the colors of autumn which were raffled off after we ate. Mr. Bob was one of the lucky winners, such a rarity for us. Aside from the bi-weekly Bingo evenings, we've rarely been prize winners.

The Powers That Be could have just told us they were sorry for the inconvenience; instead, each place setting had a note of thanks signed by the executive director and the CEO along with a golden box holding one delicious chocolate truffle.

There were a lot of centerpieces to be won and by the time Cindy got to the grand prize, I wasn't paying much attention. Somehow the winning number penetrated my subconscious. Did she say "4-9-3"?
It didn't seem within the realm of possibility but sure enough, that was the number on my ticket. I'd won a catered dinner for up to ten people!

It's a sign to me that, high risk or not, I HAVE to come through my Halloween surgery, somewhat intact, to collect my winnings.

"Forget the lottery. 

Bet on yourself instead."

                                                                         Brian Koslow

SMALL MIRACLES

Indeed, it's a very small world. Remember when Tim took us to Chinatown on Parents' Day, and I hoped to find a back scratcher? If your curiosity matches mine, here's the link to it so you can reread it. I was surprised that the subject of Slippery Shrimp was so much a part of that entry. At the time, Tim raved about how good it was, in spite of the rather off-putting name.

Fast forward to today when, sitting in the library with Nadine and Tim, the subject came up again. Nadine and her husband were going out this evening with friends for Chinese food, not to Chinatown, but to a restaurant in Pasadena. Tim and Nadine talked about how good the slippery shrimp is. I sat there, listening and wishing that I could experience the taste of it.




Tonight a knock came on our door. In came Nadine with a plastic bag. Inside was an order of slippery shrimp!!! What an out-of-the-blue surprise.........Mr. Bob brought 2 forks out of the kitchen and we ate right out of the take-out carton. Oh, so good!
Now here's an interesting thing. When I turned to that how-did-we-ever-get-along-without-it Google site, here's what I found:

Ho hum, another miracle. 

I didn't tell you about this, but a few days ago, Mr. Bob discovered a plastic bag hanging on the doorknob to our apartment. Inside? A backscratcher!!! A friend who reads our blog had bought one for her husband before learning that he already had one. She recalled my fruitless search for a back scratcher and it so happens that her parents live here at the Manor, which was how it ended up where we found it. 

Albert Einstein said, "There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."  I have every reason to agree.