Honoring Catering

What a lovely event I worked tonight. It was a celebration of a woman who died in January. She was the matriarch of a family of four who had retired with her husband in the Shenandoah Valley.

I didn't know her, but I was glad to be part of a time when family and friends came together to honor her. I didn't want to work tonight, and barely made any money after paying my sitter.

But you know what?

Sometimes service isn't about making money. Sometimes it's about being in the right place at the right time to learn a little bit about other people, and to be there for them when they need people who care to be present for them.

I'm honored to have played this very small role in a family's life, the same way I'm honored to be there when people get married, when people graduate, when people have a need to celebrate.

The best thing tonight was coming home and being able to tell my daughter all about it. She's one of the most important people in my life, and I do this work to help support her and her brother. I felt proud to do be able to do this, and to be able to know a little bit more about this country I find myself in. I do this work for my family, my crazy strange extended family.

Tonight's event was a lot like the first event I did for C&O. That was a wedding between two people in their 70's. It was magical.

So was tonight. Nobody was somber, despite people watching video of the memorial service in one of the rooms.

Tonight was what I think all of us would want when we pass on. We want to be remembered. We want our family to come together to remember who we are. We want to leave the world a better place than we found it. I'm at peace tonight. I worked hard and people were happy as a result.

I think I'm heading in the right direction.

Another pause from Court Square Tavern

I may have worked at Court Square Tavern for the last time, but I'm not really sure. I don't have any shifts scheduled as I want downtime on my Friday nights so I can enjoy life a bit. It's nice to have two nights a month where I can go out and socialize. I need this.

I'm unsettled about what this might mean, to be honest. The place is not what it used to be, and I'm lamenting that a chapter in my life has closed.

Again.

Without going to that, I'll refer you an improv that leaked out of me about three hours before I went in that night. In the song, I'm drawing upon all the unknowns currently facing me. How am I going to get through this life? What's it going to be like? Will I find another place I can call home?

I don't know. But I'm glad I have music to help me sort it out in my head.