A Special Breakfast

A Special Breakfast

The morning fall air was chilly and brisk. We arrived at his special breakfast place in Maine. There were many folks waiting outside the establishment waiting patiently for their name to be called when their table was ready. He went in and put our name on the growing list. We took a seat on the wooden bench. The sun was shining bright. The warmth of the brilliant sun made me shine inside and out.

As we sat there side by side, I pondered about how blessed I was to be on such an awesome vacation. He talked about how delicious the food was and how great the waitresses here were. Little did I know that I was about to feast on the most special meal of the whole vacation.

We had a longer wait than others, because he had requested to sit in the section of his favorite waitress. The hostess called our name and showed us to our table. The restaurant had such a warm cozy feeling to it.

A few minutes later, there she was standing before us. Her smile was a mile wide. Her face was so beautiful. Her teeth were shining white. Her hair was pulled back with little wisps falling to each side. Her eyes were sparkling with love. He said “Robin this is Heather, Heather this is my girlfriend Robin”. We shook hands. I felt the electricity coming from within that handshake.

She poured us a steaming hot cup of coffee. “ I will be back in a few minutes” she stated. He said to me, “be sure to ask her to tell you her story”. As she approached our table, I asked her just that. She set the coffee pot down on the table and began.

“It was a few years back that it all happened. You see I had a husband who has a pro golfer but loved his women and his alcohol”. I worked as a Surgical assistant. I was taking care of the children, working and trying to take care of everything. One day a semi truck trailer ran me off the road and that was the final straw. My life was out of control and I hated every minute of it. I went into work and told them I was done. I was crying and shaking and really thought I was going to lose it. I left there and got in the car and just started driving. Through the tears, the anger, the pain, I navigated the highway.
I just drove and was led here to this town.

Upon arriving, I tried to find a place to rent. Of course the time of year I arrived was not a good time to find a place to rent as tourist season was about to begin. However, I was very fortunate that a woman had overheard me in the town hall inquiring for a place to live. She led me to a wonderful place on Drake’s Landing. I signed the lease and I packed up the kids and our belongings and came here to start my new life.

As she told her story, I looked at the beautiful painting of Drake’s landing that hung so exquisitely on the wall. It was a painting that she herself had done. Also the front large windows of the restaurant had beautiful murals painted on them by her.

We chatted and she told me she always had this creative side in her but it never really came out a whole lot until after all these events that happened in her life. She stated a long lasting impressionable statement to me which was: “ you know Robin, you will feel it when you are on the path you are to be on”. Her path was to be able to serve people, make people happy, make people feel good about themselves and best of all to be able to capture such feelings in her paintings. She is able to share all of that with so many.
She told us that she has married in the last year and that her husband is the love of her life and that he spoils her in so many good ways. She said I am so happy! Her happiness truly shined through. A woman who had been through so much in her life. A woman who had felt so much pain. A woman who’s true gifts and love had been buried deep for so many years.

I admired her. She took a hold of life. She embraced it. She met the challenges of starting over head on. She did not allow her fears to hold her back. She knew she deserved more. She got in that car and started to seek her freedom and her life out. She was living her dreams. She was truly now enjoying life.

Out of all my memories of my trip to Maine, the “special breakfast” that was fed to me that morning was one of the most memorable. That loving sweet waitress will never know how much she touched my heart and life that morning. She not only served me breakfast. She served me inspiration, courage and hope.

As she walked away from the table, he took my hand and said I thought you might appreciate that story seeing all you yourself have been through. You see I have had so many struggles in my life. There have been many beginnings and many ends. So many nights, I crawl into bed wondering what is my path of life? Just when I think I got it figured out, it all changes.

As I sit here tonight and write, I think of that painting of Drake’s Landing. The beauty and peace of it. My life now has beauty and peace in it. There are moments of uncertainty that come creeping in from time to time. With having nine days in such a beautiful place as Kennebunk, hearing the ocean, seeing the sunrise and walking hand in hand with the one I love, I truly know what it is to be on the path of true love.

I have aspirations deep within me yearning to come out. Yearning to share themselves with me and the wide world of life. Who would ever have thought that one of the keys to unlocking them, would come from being served breakfast in a small cozy corner of Maine.?

Yes, Heather you are right. One will know when they are on the path they are to be on.
I thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me see that is all there waiting for me to grab hold and live my dreams.

May you continue to be blessed and enjoy all that life has to offer you.

--Robin Walters, October 17, 2006