Lost and ….
found. Sometimes I think to myself that God has the biggest ‘Lost and Found’ collection ever. He knows where your keys are when you’re trying to rush out the door, the money you just knew you had in your pocket, the kids gloves when they are headed for the bus stop, your Kona banner….
Little did he or the band know that when he stopped in for a slice of pizza, that he was about to meet lifelong friends. And as we ‘worked the room’, or is that patio?, we greeted him and got to know him a bit. And he came out to hear the band many times, each one of which he would request ‘Sweet Caroline’. myDarlin’ Robert Kenui Pope and the others would always respond, ‘we don’t know that one’ as they secretly didn’t really want to do it. But he was so faithful in his support of Kona, that during practice in Leilani’s Aloha Lounge everyone agreed that they should really add it to the set list.
As he regularly did, he joined Kona on the patio for a slice of pizza and Aloha, and then much to his surprise the band played ‘Sweet Caroline’ when he requested it this time. And the smiles and laughter filled the air on the patio. Ba-Ba-Ba! And he had a banner made for Kona that would become part of the regular set up during every show. Then one day, which is hard to put one’s finger on, the banner was no longer to be found. myDarlin and I searched everywhere we could think of, the trailer, Leilani’s, the venues Kona had played, and even the dryer as it is known to eat socks…. All to no avail, the banner was nowhere to be found.
And myDarlin’ had flags made for Kona so that everyone would know they were playing just a few short steps away. It became my job to set up the flags with each gig, and I was so happy to see how they made myDarlin’ smile as they waved in the breeze. And even as myDarlin’ left us, the flags graced the ends of our drive in his honor for months and months, only taken down when the winds became too strong.
As they walked up the stairs to the kitchen with her famous bean dip and chips, I spied it in his arms….. a rolled up banner and I knew immediately what it was. The band was here today, and it is fitting that the banner came back home with him today. For the banner had been in a case in his garage all of this time, most likely unloaded after a gig. Lost, maybe not…. Found, yes….
Today I am filled with gratitude as God allows us to find him whenever we are lost. And when I find myself missing myDarlin’ and feeling lost without him, I look inside my heart and find him right there in paradise with our Lord.
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