Pinch

FF Chapter 16 -- Celebrating Collaboration

Let go of arbitrary worries… live!
~Emmett Mulrooney

Dear Emmett,

I want to begin this letter by talking about your beagle. I want to call the beautiful fourleg by name, but my memory cannot produce. I fret for a second, and then read your six-word-sentence. Let go of arbitrary worries… live!

Let’s begin again…

On a warm summer day at the dog park, your beagle started to walk with me and Henrietta. You were relaxing on a bench in the sun. I called, “Can your dog walk around the top field with us?”

We made eye contact, you hopped up with the ease of youth, and joined us. In a short time I learned so much about you… a musician, graduating high school a semester early, embarking on an adventure to pursue a career in music.

Hmmm… inspiring! I thought.

Before exiting the double gate, I asked for your name. When I got into my truck, I fished my phone out of the center console and looked you up. (Remember… my iffy memory? I wanted to make sure I had you saved on screen before I drove away.)

When I got home, I checked out your website. I found out you’d be playing at a couple of local venues and made a mental note to visit at least one of your performances. I sent you a note through your contact page and wrote about our chance meeting in one of my newsletters. This might sound easy-breezy to some… all this meeting, greeting and connecting, but for me, it is a point of celebration. A massive departure from the person I used to be… a person who would have been too timid to yell, “Hey! Can your dog walk with us?”

More than once over the summer months I heard you play and sing as I walked up and down asphalt aisles flanked with bounty of fields and creative hands. You always called out a hello through the microphone… Remembering (the irony is not lost) me by name. 😂

Thanks for being you Emmett… for embracing and pursuing your dreams… for getting up to walk with me… for remembering my name.

You make me want to be a better person.

Gratitude and Love,

Gail