A Golden Day

Dad got a day off today so he could attend a Dalai Lama talk at Salve Regina University in Newport, and that meant my wife’s folks got their first several-hour spell with their new granddaughter. As she will when in unfamiliar circumstances or surroundings, my bundle of joy gave them a soul-shattering earful, more than once. Word is they can see why my first day with her, when she both wouldn’t take a bottle and was dealing with the absence of her mom for the first time, wasn’t one I’ll forget anytime soon. It was kind of them to look after her, and they expressed interest in doing it again sometime.

When my baby’s old enough, I’ll tell her about seeing the Dalai Lama today – that his presence could be felt in your gut in the way it has when processing an abundance of grace; that he was funny, complaining about the cold weather; that he was Buddha-like in the way he handled the written questions presented to him by his interpreter. I’ll tell her that my cup ran over long before he was done talking and that on the drive west over the Jamestown Bridge toward our side of the bay the setting sun shone on the late autumn clouds and made them look holy. I’ll tell her that my years of effort at spiritual practice were revealed to me to have been worth it, flawed as they have been, and that I recognized the Dalai Lama’s spirit in her from the moment she was born.

I’ll be as Buddha-like as possible if she asks any questions.