It Flies By Too Fast, But a Chance Meeting in a Liquor Store in Norwalk = an Invite to See Friends & Family. It's All Good

Tunga and I made plans to meet halfway, so I could catch up with his trip to Louisville. He picked a seafood place, but I don't think he looked at the prices. The average meal was like $68 dollars. I asked him what he wanted and he said a burger, so we ended up at the Dry Dock & Grille in Norwalk. On the way in, I stopped by a liquor store to get goods for the weekend, and I thought, "Isn't that Claudia Connor?" It was. We haven't seen each other in a couple of years, and collaborated much on refugee projects in Bridgeport and supporting one another's vision.

Her son, Luca, was in our 1st Project Citizen and was featured in the JAAL article we wrote (he's a great lyricist and really bonded with Dave). We've also had Gabrielle, since, and Claudia said, "Hey, it's Gab's birthday and we're having a party for him. I sent Sam to the store and he came home with a tiny bottle of tequila, so I came back to get a bigger one."

Of course, the store's credit system was down, so we had to spend time chatting. She asked, "Why don't you and Chitunga stop by after you after dinner. We're only a couple of miles away."

And they were. 

We went for a birthday toast - it was so great to see the family, especially Luca. There was always something special about him as a writer, thinker, and dreamer. We all loved working with him when he went through our programs.

They have a beautiful back porch, and it reminded me of evenings in our college years where we'd make parties on Amalfi Drive with whoever could stop by.

Crazy coincidence, but I'll give credit to The Great Whatever. Claudia is back at Save the Children, and it was so wonderful to see her again. I hope this spontaneous gathering becomes more ritualistic. It was a nice Friday night surprise.