Telling Stories

Leisha smiled. "So she's gotten to you too, has she?"

"She's an incredible woman. I'm never sure what to expect from her, a hug or a swat on the side of the head," Virginia shared, smiling back at Leisha.

"Guess that's her secret, she keeps us all off balance."

"That's not her only secret," Virginia added, feeling Leisha out.

"True. My mother's a labyrinth of secrets, most of which I suspect we'll never know."

"You're really not so different from your mother."

"Me? I don't have a single secret, go ahead, ask me anything you want to know."

"I don't mean that. I mean that you're really warm and caring like she is."

"Does that surprise you?"

"You all surprise me."

"How's that?" Leisha put the quiche in the oven, turned on the timer, and sat down across from Virginia.

"I'm not sure. I guess I heard New Englanders were difficult to get to know. That they minded their own business and expected you to keep your nose out of theirs."

"Well, like any stereotype, that's not totally untrue. As a rule, we don't go out of our way to get to know outsiders, but we're not an entirely closed group. I guess it just depends on who takes notice of you. You got my mother's attention and she's definitely a package deal. Is that why you came here? Because you thought you could hide out among all of us cold and private Mainer's?"

"I guess that's one of the reasons," Virginia confessed.

"Well, too late, we've got you now."

After lunch Virginia joined Leisha for a hike in the woods. The cool autumn air smelled like damp leaves and evergreens. It felt good. Virginia realized that she'd been feeling good more and more often. "I wonder if this place is magic," she mused out loud.

"Leave the Magic to Mom and Chris. Just enjoy," Leisha advised, taking in a deep breath.

"It's just so beautiful here. I can't imagine a place more beautiful."

"I wouldn't know actually."

"You mean you've never been outside of Maine?" Virginia asked incredulously.

"Not often. The family took a trip to Florida once to visit my Aunt Mabel. I've been to Boston a few times, even played there once, and let's see… there were a few vacations with my husband to New Hampshire and Vermont, and one wild time in New Orleans," Leisha smiled, remembering.

"Well let me assure you, this place is magnificent."

"I know," Leisha replied, stating a fact that was clearly obvious to her.

When Leisha dropped her off, she made her promise that she'd try a yoga class with her the following Wednesday morning.

"I'll need an appointment book pretty soon! I've got plans with you for Wednesday, story night at your mother's on Thursday, who knows what else!"

"Story night. I forgot about story nights. I'll have to come along sometimes. I used to love story night when I was a kid."

"They've been having story nights that long?"

"Longer," Leisha answered.

Virginia put her book down and patted Sam. She'd been reading Mathew Fox's "Wrestling with the Prophet's," at Pastor MacLachlan's insistence. "Whew, seems like that could get you in some trouble at the main office pastor," Virginia muttered.

She'd never known God. She didn't really believe there was a God actually. But she found Fox's God appealing. A God that didn't live in some fantasyland, but who was rooted inside of each and every living thing. A God not of judgment, but of compassion.

She thought about the first path to God that Fox wrote about. Via positiva - the feeling of awe and wonder one got by recognizing the miracle of life. She'd felt that, she realized. She'd felt it walking on the beach, and in the woods with Leisha. She'd experienced a sense of awe that she'd only felt when she first held Cara. It made her feel guilty though. How could she feel anything positive when her baby was dead? How could she do that? To appreciate her life felt like a betrayal. It would mean letting Cara go all over again. She couldn't do that. But she was afraid that she was starting to. She was compelled by a force that she couldn't control, being pulled away from her daughter and closer to… what?