Detour

Last night, I was driving to my Mom's house.  I usually go visit my Mom once a week, to check in to see how she's doing and all.  So last night I was on the freeway and there were some closures, so I got off early.

Then on the street I had turned off on, there was a closure, and all of a sudden I found myself crossing over the freeway (which by the way, did not look closed off).  I was on a street called Eastern which I had been on a lot as a kid on my way to my Grandmother's house.  Then I saw her street: Triggs.  I was in her old neighborhood.  Then I figured…I have to go by her old apartment now.

So I drove down the street, crossed a few streets I didn't recognize.  The neighborhood looked completely different from what I remembered.  There are a lot more gates around the properties than there were when I was growing up.  So then I get to her apartment building.

I remember being a kid and walking down the street that bordered hers, Downey Road, to go to the "little market", which was the corner store we used to go to when we wanted snacks or candy.  I remember a lot of times in that two bedroom apartment.  It was my sanctuary.

Even though I grew up in a nicer neighborhood only a few miles away from her, I have a real connection to my time in East LA when I used to go visit.  Then I remembered something the tarot cards said:

Remember your past successes and let them buoy you to your future success.

My life story is that I overcame my circumstances to become the person I am.  I overcame coming from a lower middle class background to go to a prestigious high school, to college and eventually to graduate school at NYU.  And when I look at my current circumstances in life, they seem so far away from where I want to be.

But I've been here before.

And if I can overcome my circumstances once, I can do it again.

yes, my circumstances are much better than where I came from.  But now there's another hurdle I want to jump.

No problem.

I am grateful that fate brought me back to my Grandmother's apartment to remind me that I have overcome my circumstances before with great, unbelievable and surprising success.
I am grateful that my Grandmother's spirit is guiding me.
I am grateful that the lessons of the tarot reading continue to come through for me.
I am grateful for everything I have because I have A LOT.
I am grateful that there still is hope and wonder in my heart.
I am grateful for where I have come from.