Things that bring joy: Playing hooky!

I had had the MOST marvelous weekend, and on Monday morning, I didn’t feel like getting back to work at all. I felt like…playing hooky!

I hadn’t thought about playing hooky in a LONG time, but here’s what happened.

Saturday morning, I went to the farm market with my middle son Arran and his (beautiful, brilliant) partner Eris, where, among other things, we bought the BEST strawberries I’ve EVER tasted (in late October!!!).

In the afternoon, I took the Metro to Bethesda, where I met a favorite client for the first time In Real Life at a fancy cafe. We had some delicious decaf and a long, deep, terrific conversation.

Just after I got home, my youngest son, Dylan, and his (beautiful, talented) girlfriend Ye-Sook arrived. It was her birthday, and I had a wrapped present hidden behind a chair in my living room. She opened her present but kept gasping and laughing and finally, because I had not yet noticed, draped her hand dramatically across her forehead so I could see…an engagement ring!!!!

OH my GOSH!!! Dylan and Ye-Sook were engaged!!!! I was thrilled to pieces!

It turned out Dylan had been planning this for a YEAR, had asked Ye-Sook’s parents for her hand in marriage in secret while she was in Thailand for two weeks, and consulted with her best friend about the ring and the precise spot where he would pop the question. In the event, she and two other friends were hidden near the spot to video everything. (The spot, by the way, was on a picturesque wooden bridge in Rock Creek Park where they first met during the pandemic.)

Ye-Sook was SO surprised—and I expect also not surprised at all—because I think it’s been clear to them and everyone who knows them that she and Dylan were, for each other, the ONE since the very beginning when they first met. SO sweet.

But Sunday was not to be entirely outdone. Dylan, Ye-Sook, and I met at 8:40 am at the corner of Kalorama and Connecticut and walked/ran across the William Howard Taft Bridge (more commonly known as the Connecticut Avenue or lion’s bridge), down a steep path among the trees of Rock Creek Park and across Rock Creek Parkway, which was closed, to position ourselves to watch for…Arran and Eris running in the Marine Corps Marathon! 26.2 miles. No small feat.

But small in comparison to the Ironman they both completed in Canada in August! 

We jumped up and down and waved signs when each passed, then hopped on the Metro at Woodley Park, rode to Judiciary Square on the Redline, grabbed tea-to-go at Starbucks, and hightailed it over to 7th and Jefferson near the Air and Space Museum in time to totally surprise Arran (we hadn’t said we would be there) as he flew by, back up to 7th and Madison near the National Archives in time to surprise Eris, and back again one more time to catch Eris on Jefferson. We then collapsed on a bench and took photos of each other with the signs. Job well done!

The upshot? Both Arran and Eris finished in style across the river having survived the steep hill that characterizes the end of the marathon (only the Marine Corps!). Eris’s time was ONE HOUR less than her marathon time in the Ironman. !!!!

After a quick lunch at home, I finished the day with a long walk up to the library. Because it was one of those days when you just CAN’T stay inside. The PERFECT fall day in Washington, DC, rather summery actually, but at the PEAK of fall foliage, with the yellows, golds, oranges, AND reds all in a symphonic, alluring, mesmerizing, sweeping, irresistible crescendo. The best!

So when I woke up the next morning, I was not ready for real life! Not ready to check my emails, pursue my goals, or meet my deadlines. I was vibrating from the glorious, sumptuous unpredictability of life. A reminder that SOMETIMES impermanence can bring us lovely, delightful surprises that fill us with wonder and awe and love for one and all.

So much so that one simply throws caution to the winds and plays hooky! 

Go ahead! You can do it, too. 💛

Photo by Nathan Dumlao