Resurfacing

It is (mostly) true for me that things materialize if I will it, earn it, and am patient for it. This time, though, I lost faith. I really did not believe I would make new friends no matter how big I smiled, how long I lingered, how many granola bars I shared. I'd get close, exchange numbers and then things would fetter away like a pretty dust storm at dawn. We didn't click. It wasn't happening naturally. It wasn't happening artificially. I was not making the connection.

Then, just when I almost threw in the towel, Saturday threw me a bone. A very nice woman I met at the pool a few weeks ago was enjoying time in the shallow end with her boys and her husband. As always, we sent and received friendly smiles and chatted idly about the weather. Unwilling to eat more rejection dust, I stared at my toes and motioned toward the big pool where my family waited for me. Then it happened. This very nice woman gave me something I've been hoping for and pining for over a year. She asked me to be in her Book Club.

"Yes!" I probably shouted. "I'd love to be in your Book Club!" I definitely gestured way too emphatically.

"Do you meet every couple of weeks to talk about them?" I ask like a complete bonehead loser Book Club novice.

"Yes, and there's most certainly a wine requirement," the nice woman says.

"In that case, I'm most certainly in," I tell her and try to bite my tongue so I don't scare her away with too much joviality. A little dork goes a long way.

Obviously Saturday threw me bone. Now it's my job not to gnaw it to death with grateful praise and general happiness. I will do my best to be subtle but holy crap am I elated to have not only one new literary hungry friend but two of them to drink wine with while analyzing depth of character both on and off the page. I am so totally in and so very thankful for the life jacket showing up just when I was going under just a little bit too long.