Peace

For my birthday in June, several friends got together and gifted me with a whole day in a luxurious spa – The Trellis at the Houstonian Hotel, a 5-star establishment known for all the notables it hosts. Wanting to share this experience, I invited my friend Rhonda Schlatter to come too, knowing she was overdue for this experience herself. We scheduled our visit for the end of last week.

Rhonda, more the expert in this arena, encouraged me to go for the 100 minute massage. An hour and 40 minutes, hmmm. Could I stand to be awake, flat on a table, not moving for that long? Next on the schedule was a facial: more being awake, flat on a table, not moving. My doubts grew about the ache that was sure to be in my legs with this amount of non-movement.

I was so wrong! I actually thought they shorted my time (which they didn't). Same for the facial. I felt boneless after those two sessions. After all the treatments (manicure, pedicure, make-up sessions), I curled up on a chaise longue in the Tranquility Room (soft lighting, fire in the fireplace, water feature) and slept for almost an hour.

We topped the evening off with dinner and a play – The Buddy Holly Story – reminding me of all the music I enjoyed as a young girl.

The whole next day was an experience in underlying peacefulness – went to a movie with Troy, my son-in-law (we both like sci-fi), handled a load of emails, and babysat my grandkids that evening – never losing that inner floating feeling.

I feel teary with gratitude for everything – the blue in the sky, the heat of the sun, the love I feel, the privilege of being a part of this moment, and this moment …. I know it won't last, but I now have a marker that I can return to as a baseline of peacefulness, a baseline that was definitely raised (or lowered, depending on how you look at it) to a new level.

Special Thank You's to Rhonda Schlatter, Sherry Merritt (her idea), Valerie Burson, Sylvia Hebert, Linda Sonier, Cathy Reinhold, Mari Hall, Regina Chien-Ertl, Adriana and William Holt, Leslie Pierkowski, Michele O'Keefe, Jane Lawson, Jenny and Ian Huddleston, Nicole Zuber, Kathy Davis, Richard Swartz, Michael Swartz, Jerry and Adele Swartz … and to the gracious staff at The Trellis.  AWESOME!