Attention to Pay

posted in: The Stories of Chicago IL | 0

By Barbara Sittler, January 15, 2015

We met at a busy coffee shop, it was noisy and busy, he spilt his coffee down his pants, over our papers – just spared the phone – and we had lots to accomplish.  When we finished, just a few minutes ago, we went back to talking about his grief and how to deal with it.  Yoga?  Tai chi?  Sitting with the Buddhists? What a contrast!  I just attended a meeting with my former co-worker – who I now work with on a very limited basis via contract – and spent our first minutes talking about how he is doing following the very unexpected death of his husband of 5 months.

I gave him a big hug and watched him walk to his car and then came inside to this group.  There they sat in a cozy library all together at The Table, writing.  It felt like I’d entered a warm, safe cocoon.  This, I thought, this is what my friend needs – a place, a time, an occasion every week to be amongst others who share their time, their stories, their silences.

I will tell him about it.