Audrey Hepburn, Michael Jackson and a large cup of mocha...

The world is full of wonder...

I'm fairly sure Saturday mornings are a teacher's reward for an exhausting week. There is simply nothing more wonderful than awaking at 6:05am to the alarm, only to realize I forgot to turn it off the night before, and curling up under the covers to crash for another 3 hours. What could be better than that? Simple and wonderful. And yet, what could make it better? Audrey Hepburn, Michael Jackson and a large cup of mocha (not necessarily in that order).


The day began with a quiet breakfast in a wonderful coffee shop filled with old men just returned from a bike ride, and a middle aged couple, married 17 years now, who still love to sneak off for a quiet bite to eat when the kids aren't looking. One large, perfect mocha, a table for two... wonderful.

Somehow, the mocha led to a small used record store. As a 41 year old, needless to say, Michael Jackson has been an ever-present part of my life (whether I wanted him there or not). However, my fondest memory of Michael involves the love of my life from when I was 14. Her name was Lisa, and she was my wonderful 1 year old sister, who could "shake it" better than anyone I knew to Jackson's "Beat It". Among the thousands of albums in the store, I stumbled across a perfect copy of Thriller. It is the exact topper to the wedding gift I've been preparing for Lisa- whose marriage is set for March 13th. Karma? Luck? Chance? Wonderful.

Rob, mocha, Michael and I arrived home to find Kobie and Hal lounging in the sun. Kobie had picked up a copy of Audrey Hepburn's biography that Rob had left on the kitchen table for Hal (Hepburn is Hal's favorite). She perused the pages of photos and watched as the winkles took over the beautiful face... she noticed the face, however wrinkled, remained beautiful. She wondered aloud, "why is she holding the African baby?" Then she questioned, "What does m-a-l-n-o-u-r-i-s-h-e-d spell?" Together we began to read and discovered (or remembered) the fact that Hepburn spent her later years using her celebrity to bring attention to the work UNICEF was doing. Giving back. Kobie was inspired and awed... wonderful.

And now... now Audrey, Michael, and an empty mocha cup sit on my table... and I... I am sure my world, our world is a wonderful place.