I feel like the Little Prince… cess. I traveled from my home planet of palm trees, beaches, flip-flops, and a slow pace of life, to a new planet filled with Evergreen trees, cars aplenty, and coffee shops on every corner. But I digress.
Late last night my brain went into overdrive. Those dreaded words tumbled out of my daughter’s mouth that sent my mind spinning, “Mommy, I don’t feel good”. Oh shit. Kiddo has a cold. Is it COVID? Is it a simple cold? God, please don’t let it be something awful. With the traveling and new exposure to… well… everything, it was hard to tell. I went into high gear and did a rapid test. 15 minutes later the results came back negative. Whew! I rolled the thermometer over her forehead delicately. No fever. She just has a scratchy throat and an upset tummy.
I am so thankful that I got her the flu vaccine last week right before we moved.
I scrambled to my laptop to purchase some cough and cold medicine. I clicked through the usual screens getting everything ordered. At the final screen I did a double take. I can get it… today? How is that possible? Apparently Mars is also the home of the A to Z smile company too.
This morning a blue truck with the logo rolled up in front of the townhouse. A man clad in a blue polo shirt with large PRIME letters printed raced to the door with the much-needed medicine. “Have a great day!” he smiled passing me the parcel. Mars might be weird, but they sure do have good customer service.
On another note, Daddy surrounded me with his love once more as I was out and about today. I had to get a Washington driver’s license today. Needless to say, it was nerve-racking and emotional for me. As silly as it sounds, I didn’t want to give up my California ID. That felt like one more thing that made Daddy’s physical passing that much more real. But, by law I had to get a new license within the first 30 days of moving so… it was time. I gathered my binder of documents. I marched up into the office and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was socially distanced.
Still, my nerves felt rattled and on edge. As my name was called and I stood up to the window answering question after question I longed for Daddy to be by my side. “Babe, I need you” I thought, closing my eyes for a moment. I needed him… badly. Suddenly, a woman in a stroller came up to the counter to my left. I heard her talking and she said, “I’m married to a Filipino”. I blinked and looked over to see a cute Fil-Am baby in her stroller. Then, a woman came to the window to my right. She is Filipino! As she began talking she told the person at the desk that she is from the Ilo-Ilo province! I did a double take. There were white people as far as the eye could see, and suddenly…. bam! Filipinos! Just like Daddy all around me!
I smiled to myself quietly. “Thank you, Daddy” I thought, “thank you for sending me this sign that you are here with me”. The paperwork got finished. The car is now in my name. I have new license plates to Mars. (Does that make me a Martian?). And life can keep moving along.
Next up…….. a new library card. Whew! More updates tomorrow. x