Side Dish

Side Dish
By John R. Greenwood

The title is deceiving. But, since you're here, I will share the side dish. I have been on this journey I call, "Searching For  A Sign From "Clem." It has been an endless discovery of old friends, new friends, stories, pictures, and in general, a daily dose of adrenalin. All these side stories that have evolved along with the main tale are what I call side dishes. I will plate one up for you. 

I posted a story a while back (see it here) called the "The Last Sweater." It was a story about an unfinished baby sweater I found in an old trunk of my mothers. Shortly after posting that piece I received a wonderful email from a childhood friend living in Kansas City Missouri. Melissa said she had a sweater of her brothers that he wore when he was little. She was fairly certain it was my mother who knitted it. Our mothers were friends and I assume it was a gift or something my mother was asked to knit. The amazing part of this story is although my childhood friend and I live hundreds and hundreds of miles from each other and we haven't seen each other since the early sixties, her memories and mine entwined just long enough to make an emotional connection over something as simple as a hand knit sweater shared between our mothers. This was my intent with my journey looking for a sign. There are signs everywhere in our lives. We read into them what we either need or despise. Everyday we choose to either embrace them or ignore them. In this case my friend Melissa choose to embrace the sign and send me a photo that assured me that this world is still pure and full of loving and caring individuals who all seek the same destination. What we all need and want in the end is to be able to enjoy our lives free of hate and full of compassion. Not only does it make for a great story it brings a satisfaction to our lives that can't be bought off the shelf of a big blue store.