It's my daughter's birthday today. Huh? No, I am not going to divulge her age online! Do you want her to kill me? Let's just say that she cannot claim to be twenty-something any more, and leave it at that, okay?
Lucille is great! It was she who encouraged me to go to India, and even to take sannyas: "You keep saying you're bored with your work and life. This will be good for you... no time like the present."
So, perhaps fittingly, it was on this day last year, her birthday, that I left what little family life I had, and with the blessings of her and my son, Lee (who graduates from George Washington University School of Law in May), I went to India to be initiated into the tridandi sannyas renounced order by Srila Gurudeva.
Still, I have been here three days already, and I have yet to see Lucille, or my twin grandkids, Maya and Michaela. Yeah, yeah, I know, they have been out of town — but what's up with that?
Could it be because at my last darshan with Srila Gurudeva in Hapaniya, just before I left India a few days ago, I asked that Srila Gurudeva bless and protect me so that I may return quickly and safely to his side, and not be distracted by familial and other obligations and attractions in my old, familiar environment?
Yikes! I did not expect the protection to be so strong that my own daughter would not be at the airport to meet me when I returned after being abroad for a whole year, or that I would still not have seen her three days after my return!
I guess I should be careful what I ask for, huh? :-)
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