Creating community, Anne Lamott, and Hugs

Yesterday my favorite author, Anne Lamott, came to Fort Worth.  She was here in April and I was excited about that for weeks before the event and weeks after the event. When you love an artists' work and then get to meet that person, and even connect with them through a hug, it makes your connection to the work even stronger.  This time was no different.
The talk started at 7, but I assumed there would be thousands of people there, so I showed up at 5. I did this at her last appearance, too, and ended up making a new friend.  This time I knew what to expect, so I was less anxious and nervous and just buzzing with enthusiasm.  The only people at the event when I showed up were the organizers, who were arranging chairs, cookies on trays, and fall displays.  They all laughed at me and my excitement.  That's perfectly fine. These people were somehow responsible for bringing my favorite author to town, so I wanted to show them my gratitude and excitement.
Shortly after I arrived, another crazed fan walked in. I had positioned myself by the door so I could see everyone coming in and introduce myself.  I greeted the people who came in the door to be greeters, which was pretty funny.  The new crazed fan was Carol and she had driven for nearly two hours to see Anne Lamott.  We became fast friends.  As more people arrived, I introduced everyone to everyone and pretty soon the entire atrium area was laughing and smiling. As 7:00 approached, everyone was respectful of Carol and my wait and excitement and they all lined up behind us to go into the church's sanctuary.
By the time the doors opened, I had made at least 20 new friends, and had been a part of at least five meaningful conversations about faith and life.  All my new friends ended up sitting with my already friends and we filled a pew before we even had finished arriving.  As more people arrived that had planned to sit with us, we scooted down and talked with each other, swapping bits of our life stories.
This is what I love about church. This is a huge reason why I am headed to seminary. I believe in the gifts of community and I love connecting with people.  By the time the event began, there wasn't a distinction between new friends and old. We were all friends together. We were surrounded by love and were sharing infectious caring with one another.  I put on my jacket and I had a close friend plus the lady behind me helping me put my arm in the sleeve.  Just a simple action like putting on my jacket was infused with love.
Of course we all loved hearing Anne Lamott speak. My new friend Carol cried several times and then another new friend passed a kleenex box down the row.
After the event I said farewell to friends as they left and then I got in line to have a stack of books signed.  I gave Anne a gift of pens, a pencil pouch, bluebonnet seeds, a copy of my blog post about her, and a card that says, "You are beloved, precious child of God and beautiful to behold."  She loved, loved, loved it and even hugged me a good, long time.
***(I got the card idea from my friend Rev. Nancy, who passed them out during Bible study one night. I passed them out this year during Bible study and had leftovers. I was handing them out to my new friends like trading cards. Everyone loved them.  One of my new friends even had Anne sign her card so she could put it on her mirror.)
So on the day after the event, I am unsure what I loved most. Was it the excitement and anticipation? Was it the connection with new and already friends? Was it the sense of community we created? Was it Anne's speech? Was it the honor of speaking to her and offering her a gift? Was it knowing that some of my writing will be read by my favorite author? Was it getting a hug from so many people, including Anne Lamott?
I'm not sure, but I am sure I will be happy about this for a good, long time.

All I can do is hug you

On Monday explosions devastated Boston.  Last night a fertilizer plant in West, Texas caught fire and exploded, injuring hundreds and evacuating a town.
News like that makes some want to crawl in a hole and hide from the world.  Not me.  I want to run outside right now at 5:24 a.m. in my nightgown to go wake my neighbors and tell them they're fantastic and can I hug you?  I want to drag my kids out of bed so I can hug and kiss every inch of their precious hands and feet and tell them  how much I love them and what I dream for their future.  I want to teleport myself to St. Louis to interrupt the Steel Conference to inform Adam Boyette that I love him.  (Flying or driving would take too long.  I would like to be there now and a phone call isn't the same as a hug.)
I want to get in the car and take a road trip to visit every single one of our friends to personally hug them and tell them I love them.  Even Wayne in Saudi Arabia, although there's not a direct road route there, so I'd settle for hugging his wife in California.
Unfortunately my schedule doesn't permit that, so what I will do today is radical hugging of the people I can see.
I can't stop bad things from happening and I can't even predict the future so I can warn people.  I can't even give blood to the blood bank today because I have a terrible cold and possibly will end up on antibiotics before the end of the day.  I can't give millions of dollars to non-profits.  I can't go rescue people myself; I know little about first aid anyway.
But what I can do is hug people.  I can tell you that I love you and that I believe love is the most powerful force in the world.  I believe God is love and when you feel love you are experiencing God.  I believe love is our soul and sole purpose in life and can I share with you that I love you?
So if you are in my path today, especially if you're not a hugger, be prepared.  You will get hugged.

An Evening in Sundance Square

Last night we didn't have plans and Adam had to work, so the kids and I went to downtown Fort Worth to see what kind of adventures we could find.  We found a lot, mostly expressed in pictures below.

First we went to the Central Public Library.  We stayed until closing and checked out many books.  We kept hearing closing announcements over the PA system, to which Paul kept saying, "We're going to get trapped in here!"

Then we stopped to look at a partially demolished building, shown below.

We found this interesting because it seemed incomplete.  It looked like the demolition company started their job and then punched out at 5 p.m. on Friday, regardless of whether or not they were finished.

After staring at the building for a while, we rode Molly the Trolley, a free shuttle around downtown.  We met many interesting people, all with wineglasses in their hands, all celebrating one gentleman's birthday.  We also sidled up next to a car of newlyweds, still in their gown and tuxedo.  They waved cheerfully and we clapped for them.

We got off the trolley and started walking around downtown, looking for more adventure.  We met this lady below, who had a bad day and decided to reverse her mood by standing at a street corner with a sign.  We gave her several hugs throughout the evening.  As we toured around, we kept ending up at her street corner to give her more hugs.  She said she turned out to have a great day.

After hugs, we enjoyed some gelato before returning for more hugs.  I warned the kids that their gelato might get on her pristine white outfit, so in this photo, they are keeping their distance.

We saw several people marching in protest of Palestine's lack of recognition as a country.  I didn't explain all that to the kids, but Claire recognized the word Obama, so I said they didn't like his job.  We called this a parade...These people were marching through downtown with their banner, singing, "Give Peace a Chance."  We only saw them for about ten minutes and then they disappeared, so I wonder if they didn't have parade permit.

There were many carriages downtown, but Paul's favorite was the one pulled by Michelle, shown here.  The horse owners were friendly and let us stand talking to and petting their horses for a while.  Claire pet a horse named Bucky.  The kids were also highly entertained that behind the horses was a special sack to hold their poop. 

After all this excitement, we headed home, but not before riding an escalator and waving and folks from a sky bridge.  The entire evening cost me $17, but the fun we had was priceless.