El Taco
When I look back, I can see the events as they all fell together. Of course at the time I had no idea. It all started a couple of days before my flight on April 23, 2004. I had a flight booked to fly home to visit my Mom and Step Dad in Manassas, Virginia. My plan was to sit down and discuss with them my desire to divorce and to move back home to Manassas. They had know idea that is why I was coming up I wanted to tell them face to face. I had been away since I was 20 years old and all the kids were out in the world and I missed my family in Northern Virginia so I thought this might be the place to go. This had been a big decision coming for awhile. I had been married for 16 years and we were both unhappy. I had a couple of months earlier told my husband at the time that I was going to leave I just didn’t know when and to where. Because of my unhappiness, every night I would say a small prayer. Just a couple of simple words “Show me the direction for my life.” You see I have always been one of those people who just move though life at warp speed always thinking I know everything and all the ways I should go. My preacher, a wonderful man at First United Methodist Church, would tell me to listen for god’s answer. He said God sometimes talks in the quiet times. So I was trying real hard to do this, to be patient and follow his way this time in hopes I would wind up in a good place. I would tell God in those moments that I really don’t get the quiet voice that I am more of a Burning Bush kinda gal. That if he wanted me to know his way, it was going to have to smack me in the face.
My Mom worked full time so usually when I would fly up my Step Dad who is a teacher would pick me up at the airport because he had a little more flexibility to his schedule. We would always leave the airport and go to my Mom’s house. That was the normal pattern. So a couple of days before my flight I get a call from my Mom saying that she wanted to pick me up to spend time with me so she was going to take a half day off. I think “wow how nice” My flight was scheduled to arrive a little before noon so as we talked I suggested that being she was picking me up that we should go to lunch. Something we never get to do. She said ok and that I could pick any place I wanted to go. After some discussion I suggested El Taco. A little Taco restaurant that has been around since I was a kid and a real staple of my diet as a teenager. I loved their food and hadn’t been there in years. My Mom loves their food also, so we agreed. Mom would pick me up and them lunch at El Taco. To be continued……….
