I was sitting happily in the parking lot of Bellis Fair reading while my kids shopped this week ~ well happily isn't exactly the correct description, since I'm continuing to swing like a frickin yoyo over the closure of the Bad Dog. Nearly everything reminds me of something BD these days. En route to the mall, I choked at the sight of a closed Chinese food restaurant at the side of the highway. It's 'Kowloon' sign stared vacantly through the over grown grass, and through the dusty windows I could see the deserted oriental decor. I pictured the people who once held the dream of that business and that feeling was a little too close to home.

Anyways, as I was flipping through the latest Vogue Living mag, I came across this ad. I love the simple bold graphics but it was the words that actually caught me. Every one of the words represents something I value, but especially and quite unexpectedly, the last word, 'BELONG.'

It isn't rocket science that we all need a sense of belonging but I like to deny that I do. Some people are 'joiners', and like the collaborative give & take of being part of something. I however, associate 'belonging' with 'other people's agendas, structure & relational bs'. I'm not exactly the best candidate to belong to anything.

And yet oddly, my biggest sense of loss over the BD, is that daily sense of belonging. Belonging to the larger downtown community, belonging to the smaller group of people within the restaurant, and having a sense of something of value belonging to me...

And I am shattered to let that part of the BD go, even partially.

***

My friend Rose & I waited expectantly for the Story Time group to show up at the Dog this morning. As the clock hit 10:30 and the place remained deserted, our coffee and baking preparations for naught, Rose commented, 'Well, I could say it could be worse, but hah, I'd be lying. But then again, it isn't everyday you and I get to have a cup of coffee together.'

***

I smiled. Some days, that's as good as it gets. And today, that was good enough. Thanks Rose.