Standing in the middle of the Tybee Market ... a.k.a. IGA ... parking lot, his voice lacks the emotion of his words and his hand gestures ... a wild flaying of arms and desperate fingers combing his hair leave the impression he's pantomiming.
"I think she was ready?" I reply, peering at him through sunglasses.
"How can anybody be ready?" he exclaims betraying fear at the thought.
"I dunno," I reply, shuffling toes in my flip flops. "When you're ready to see God everything else pretty much pales in comparison."
He doesn't have a reply and rushes inside the grocery.
Climbing into the old convertible I drive the six blocks to our house.
"Did you get sweet tea?" Maddie the 14 year old bellows and I hold up the jug.
"And on the 8th day," I say, "God made sweet tea."
"What?" she asks pouring herself a glass and filling it to the brim so she loudly slurps as she carries it to her room downstairs.
Putting the groceries away, a line from another song springs to mind ... "Where do you go when you get to the end of your dream?"
Opening a beer, I stroll outside on the back deck to ponder the question but have to give it up because it's not mine to answer yet!
I've got dreams coming true now and others I'm still working on that involve little latitudes, a house boat and Sarah and I sipping margaritas beside an open fire on a Caribbean beach.
Though I'm a big believer in people knowing when it's time to move on ... to a different location, another life or from this existence to the next.
Maddie lumbers back up for more sweet tea and says, "I really enjoyed prayers in Cathedral today."
"That's good," I shrug with a smirk. "What did you pray for?"
"Everything," she laughs with the utter confidence only a 14 year old has.
"Well," I laugh tipping the bottle towards her, "it's good you know what you want."
"Yeah," she beautifully smiles. "Okay ... see you later."
"Later," I laugh.
Turning, I hold my beer towards the setting sun and toast my friend.
"I'll see you later too."
