XVIII

I looked over at where my wife was having her reading and saw that she was putting her socks and shoes back on. She walked over to me and eagerly asked if I wanted to know what she was told. I said, "Of course". The things that got her the most excited was the toe reader telling her that our relationship would continue to improve and that we would quite possibly have a child in the next year. The child bit is doubtful unless we get help from the fertility clinic and we don't plan to go that route anytime soon. Having a child is within the field of infinite possibilities (as Deepak would say), but probably not likely.

The last lecture of the weekend would be given by Marianne Williamson. I first became familiar with her 15 years ago. As I was recovering from major depression in the late summer of 1993, I had been able to all but eliminate my negative self talk through the help of David Burns' book Feeling Good. Wouldn't it be great, I thought, if there was a book that taught one how to live life, a Bible for a 20th century boy who has no room for the God of the Old Testament. One afternoon, while picking up my stash, I mean prescriptions, at Goltz Pharmacy, I noticed a paperback. It was called, "A Return to Love". The author: Marianne Williamson. I read the summary on the back of the book and perused some of its contents. Looked like pretty good stuff to me. Excerpts from it can be found here.

Its words changed my life for the better all those years ago and for that, it will always hold a special place in my heart. If someone would've told me in '93 that one day I'd have the chance to hear her speak, I would've been quite pleased. What I wouldn't have expected was that my seeing her would almost be an afterthought after having seen Neale. I guess various authors just hit us in different ways at different times in our lives. Nonetheless, hearing her speak would be a worthy finale to this lovely weekend. The talk would be given in the Grand Ballroom so that all could attend.

The wife and I got in line at about 3:20 and were let in shortly after 3:30. Marianne would be speaking from 4-6. We managed to get seats in about the 8th row. Our favorite redheaded lady, Karen Drucker, was singing once again about unity (Obama-Hillary) and lifting our mood even higher than it already was. My wife noted that this was all so romantic, going to a beautiful hotel, hearing inspiring speakers and singers, spending lots of time together, getting our feet read. I was glad to hear that she was having such a good time since this was all my idea and I woulda gone on my own if she hadn't been interested. She talked about us going again next summer if it was offered again. But what if she was 8 months pregnant at that time, I opined.

Shortly before 4, Neale entered the ballroom with m. Claire and headed to the front row. Marianne came out to much applause a few minutes later. She mostly talked about embracing midlife (the subject of her newest book), something the audience could certainly relate to since a majority were over 32.3 years old (I did some calculating while waiting for Marianne to come out). She mentioned that it can be sad leaving behind your youth, but that there is much joy and satisfaction to be found in the later years. She told a few amusing stories about the relationship between her and her daughter, stories that I couldn't relate to as much since I'm not a woman nor a mother. The crowd was enjoying it, though. I held my wife's hand during some of the talk.

She opened the floor to questions at about 5:30. One of the first ones was asked by a lady who described herself as a "fundamentalist conservative Christian". As soon as she said this, my face scrunched up a bit. I don't like to be judgemental. It was probably just an involuntary reaction. The woman said she didn't understand why so many people at the conference, including several of the speakers, were talking so enthusiastically about Obama. Marianne replied that this is an election year (probably one of the most important of our lifetime) and that the guy does hail from Illinois where the conference was taking place.

She also said she was sold on Obama when he said that not only does he want to end the war in Iraq, but also end the mindset that got us there in the first place. Several people applauded this, including yours truly. She went on to say that if the questioner is a big fan of McCain, she should be as enthusiastic about him as others are for the O-Man (though how someone can be gung-ho for a guy that looks like the Cryptkeeper is beyond me). The lady then said that she didn't really like McCain, that she was more a fan of Romney. Someone then shouted, "Marianne for President in 2012!". Marianne smiled and replied, "Only if I can get Neale on the ticket with me!". I applauded at this (though I would probably prefer a reversal of the ticket).