Shanghai Hong Kong Egg Fu Yung; Fortune Cookie Always Wrong…

….or is it?

Who remembers where that little rhyme comes from? Props to whoever gets the reference.

Anyway, this past Thursday I was eating at my favorite Chinese restaurant here in Abilene called SzeChuan (which also happens to be one of the top 100 in the US and was ranked #1 a few years ago!) and something odd happened to me.

As with most places of this sort you get a complimentary fortune cookie with your tab. I never put much stock into fortune cookies but they’re a source of entertainment for sure. So I cracked it open and lo and behold there was absolutely nothing in it! I mean nothing! Not so much as a blank slip of paper. Just an empty void.

I sat wondering “what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Again, I don’t put much stock into fortune cookies but I couldn’t help but be a little confused.

Well, I think Saturday gave me the answer to that. As I played a bagpipe medley of “Flowers of the Forest,” “Wings” and “Scotland the Brave” at my dear friend Shawn’s memorial service I couldn’t help but feel that emptiness – one that reminded me of my poor empty cookie two nights prior.

To add to that void, when I dropped into Vagabond (the pizza joint I always rave about) and the head bartender (who is also a very close friend) told me that the co-owner’s dad had died that week I almost lost it. The entire crew at Vagabond is like a 2nd family to me. Though I’d never met or even talked to this person, it was like rubbing salt into a wound. Luckily I was given the opportunity to pen a hand-written note sending my condolences and reminding her how much she and the entire family there mean to me.

So I guess for once a fortune cookie was right. The empty cookie was a fortune (or is that a misfortune?) tale of the feelings to come. Alas, we shall push on right? That’s all you can do I guess.

Have you ever had a prophetic fortune cookie, or do you more agree with the old adage? Let me know what you think!

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Song Lyric Sunday 4/15/18 – Stay

I know it’s still Saturday in my neck of the woods (as this post goes live on 4/14 at 6:30 PM CDT), but I just couldn’t wait to post this. I have to get it out of my system now. This Song Lyric Sunday is dedicated to the memory of my very dear friend Shawn Bolvi-Singleton who passed away this past Monday. I’ll forever love you and miss you.

Alas, it’s time once again for our weekly dive into the world of music. This week’s theme is “stay” – a theme that hits home for me this week with the loss of my beloved friend. Please stay with us all in spirit. I wish you all could have known her – she was one of the kindest, most gentle and beautiful people I’ve ever met.

Anyway, the very second I saw the theme I knew which song to feature, because a brand new song has that one-word title – “Stay.” This song was released in November 2017 as a sister song to “I Love You But I’m Lost” to be featured on the compilation album Rule The World. The name of the album should give a vital hint as to who did this song.

So here’s the song (written by Curt Smith):

Speak, don’t speak
Go, don’t go
Damned if I do
Damned if I know
Wait, don’t linger
Wait damned slow
Stay for the open hand
Or let it all go

Young enough
To play the game
Old enough to know
It’s all or nothing

Stay, don’t stay
Go, don’t go
Stay, don’t stay
Go, don’t go

Dust to dust
We all fall down
One for the hills
Until we’re safe and sound of the

Young enough
To play the game
Old enough to know
It’s all or nothing

Stay, don’t stay
Go, don’t go
Stay, don’t stay
Go, don’t go

It’s all or nothing
Stay, don’t stay
Go, don’t go
Stay, don’t stay
Go, don’t go
Source: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/tearsforfears/stay.html

Well, that’s this week. Sorry for the slightly somber tone, but it just kind of fit with the events of this past week. Thank you to all my friends who showed me an outpouring of support; it means a lot to me.

The Pain of Loss

“Many people ask me why I always sign off ‘Till we meet again.’ Because goodbye is always so final. Goodbye, Dan Wheldon.” – Marty Reid, ABC commentator, after the crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that took the life of IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon in 2011.

I remember very vividly watching that nasty crash as it unfolded but never in a million years did I think anyone would have died in that mess. When the news broke I was actually hurt and when Marty Reid closed the broadcast with the above words it hit me hard.

Since then I’ve changed my parting line to something similar, because goodbye really is so final and I reserve it for occasions such as this.

Today, my heart hurts terribly. Yesterday a very good friend of mine lost a hard fought battle against pneumonia. She seemed to have been making a recovery but things turned for the worse.

We didn’t know each other that long but in that time I came to regard her as one of the kindest and most gentle, beautiful people I’ve ever met. She was always there giving me words of encouragement even in my darkest days. She saw in me what I didn’t see in myself at the time. I’m sure I always drove her nuts with my ramblings about what a nobody I felt like but she never got mad, only reassured me that some day things had to get better. When they did she shared in my celebration as well as my trials and tribulations even recently.

Right now I feel for her husband (also a very good friend to me), her family, friends and fur babies. We are all feeling the incredible pain of this loss. Words cannot express the pain I feel right now.

This isn’t something I’ve had to deal with much in the past few years. It still hurts when it does though. I’ll cherish the fond memories, and maybe even the tough times.

Yes, indeed, goodbye is always so final. Goodbye, dear friend. I hope you are no longer in pain and are once again one with the stars. I’ll always love you, even in death and will never forget you.