It was dress-up day at Bell -- one of the few special days students tidy up and look dignified in their long-sleeved shirts, neck tie, and dress slacks. It was All Saints Day after all.
The associate pastor at St. Joe reminded us churchgoers last Sunday that All Saints Day was a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics. I missed two opportunities to hear mass -- one at the Cathedral of Christ the Light at noon, and the other St. Joe in the evening. My bad. Mia culpa. Perdoname.
Typically, I would have heard mass at noon, at the Cathedral. But today was the farewell lunch for my retiring boss, Cathy. The group's choice was Boca Nova at Jack London Square.
I had a feeling we all tried to make the moment light and fun. I know I tried, and I certainly wanted it to be that way. But I guess it was difficult because we all knew that it would probably be the last time we'll all be together. In the last 7-plus years, we've had countless gatherings of this sort, and each and every time, Cathy would foot the bill. Her being so generous is definitely an understatement.
I will miss these gatherings, not because she paid for it, but because for brief moments, we all seemed to have fun. We were relaxed and talked about things other than work. I know she tried so hard to make our team a cohesive, happy family. But we all had our quirks, and it never happened. And this frustrated her. She shared this with me on numerous occasions.
The time blew by so fast, it was time to get up and say goodbye. No tears rolled, at least, I didn't notice any, or my peers did a good job at holding it back. When it was my time, I told her this was not goodbye, but an I'll-see-you-again-soon. To which she agreed, and smiled. From there, I didn't plan on going back to work in the afternoon. So did the rest. With the early off, I was able to pass by the pharmacy to pick up my meds.
Originally, Jake and I had planned on watching the Stanford women's volleyball team play UCLA at Maples. There weren't any schedule conflicts either since there was no Bell football game scheduled. However, he got invited to watch the St. Francis-Serra varsity football game at St. Francis. I was fine with it and not being able to watch the Stanford game wasn't a big deal either.
After making a few arrangements, all was set. He had his ride to and from St. Francis. Although he wasn't really a big fan of either team, I knew he had a different agenda for wanting to watch the game. Well, it was more like him wanting to go to St. Francis, period.
A few days prior, we were having a conversation about the Bell formal dance in December and who he was planning to take. The lady-date was identified, and it was at this football game that Jake "formally" asked her out. I'll spare you the behind-the-scenes leading up to this day, but I definitely understood why he needed to go. I was all for it.
As for me, I didn't have anything else to do. A bottle of beer or a glass of wine was not even enticing. I passed the time watching recorded episodes of Grey's Anatomy. And my boy did give me an update. The girl said, "yes."
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