Mama would have loved those shoes!

My mother had a fondness for snazzy shoes.

Perhaps it was because Daddy was a salesman at Globe Shoe Company, so he was always able to bring her the top-of-the-line picks.

Perhaps it was due to her unerring sense of style and chicness, coordinating her clothes with her shoes and purses and jewelry (a trait that skipped a generation to my first niece).

Whatever the reason, I remember Mama having an abundance of very nice shoes.

She would have adored those strappy sherbet-green and black heels, I know.

Right place, right time.

Those were worn by the director of the Spectra Choir.

The group was back at Asbury Memorial Church for another concert (and more! But I'll get to that in a few minutes!).

This year, they gave us "A Love Letter To Our Future Selves", with a collection chosen to support women at various stages in life.

As much as I had wanted to be there, I very nearly didn't come, as the weather cooled a bit after the thunderstorm we had on Thursday... but I finally did throw myself out of the house, and arrived, incredibly, fifteen minutes late, with the first song - "Stand Up", a favorite, by Cynthia Erivo and Joshua Campbell - still ringing in the sanctuary.

Right place, right time.

 

That meant I was in a seat for the World Premiere of "I Have Been A Thousand Different Women", composed by Marybeth Kurnat... who sat just a few rows from me!

How amazing was that!!!

That's her, in the photo above, on stage in Holliday Hall for a Q & A with the director.

I'm glad I was there still.

I had taken a plate out to the car, on my way to Greenwich, when I realized I needed to take a pee break first.

When I came back in, I heard the conversation between the two women and stayed.

That's why I was there when Marybeth spoke of getting her lyrics from poems posted on social media, in particular on Instagram.

That made me think about some of the poems I've written here, in particular "Full Moon".

I'd love for someone - country, rap, hiphop - to set it to music!

Time wouldn't allow a visit to the cemetery after all, but I was where I needed to be.

Right place, right time.

Besides, I had already spent time with thoughts of Mama before the reception and party for the women's chorus.

"The kiss of the sun for pardon, the song of the birds for mirth..."

I had stopped in the garden to sit and warm up after the chill of the sanctuary.

That's when I noticed the caladium bicolor and the salvia, staples in Mama's garden.

I wasn't there long, though, as Janice Gantt's marble bench was very hot!

So I went to meet and greet with some of the choir members... and talk to them about "Breathe", the Anna Nalick song they did midway through their program.

I told each one of them how much that song meant to me, and the story of how it became so important to me. 

I still believe someone requested the song be played for me over the phone, that long-ago day at work, when I was post-divorce and needed strength.

When I heard it today at this concert, that memory flooded back, reassuring me.

Right place, right time.

i thank You, God.