kidnapped!

midas and i met when we started studying swedish together about 4ish months after we both moved here. well, his wife moved too. they moved from the netherlands/holland (i am sorry, even though they’ve told me, i still can’t keep all of the netherlands/holland stuff straight.what’s what and where’s where). anyway, we were the only 2 western people in our class  – everyone was from the middle east, africa, or the east. so, we naturally gravitated to each other. even though i ended up forming some awesome friendships during that time with some very interesting women and heard amazing life stories…

but, yeah. me & midas. we quickly discovered that we were very much kindred spirits. both into spirituality, but have a somewhat hard time with organized religion. both philosophers, dreamers, seekers, wanderers, spontaneous. pretty soon midas got a job at a restaurant, and after a while, began working so much he decided not to study any more. i soon followed his lead. it was much easier & faster to learn swedish “out in the world”. we kept in contact a little bit here & there, but did not see each other much. at all. which is sad.

sometime, a year or so ago, i dropped by his restaurant and that began the blossoming for our deeper friendship. and also a friendship with his lovely & intelligent  wife. both of them were a great support for me last year when lina was in the hospital. and both of them inspire me with their carefree, honest spirits. midas and i, met off and on. i believe we inspire each other. it’s just one of those good kind of relationships which is good for your soul. i met with leonie some too. lots of times it would be when i dropped in for a drink. and, then i’d naturally end up running into leonie at the restaurant too, and we’d sit and chat. we did that whole, expat bond thing with each other. and soon, they had met lina.

so, when we had our little flea market before we moved out of our apartment, we had them over one evening. the four of us sat on the floor, sipped sparking wine, and discussed many different things – typical conversations with them, always a little edgy & deep, which i love. before they left, they purchased some things from us… books and 2 mugs. the mugs were easy to sell, but the beauty of it, was in what they said about them: that they’d think of us when they used them. and that’s exactly what made selling all our things so easy… we knew that our stuff would be spread out amongst people we love, who would appreciate and love them.

now, my books were a different story. i had gone through my books over & over again, making the “stack to keep” smaller & smaller every time. there just wasn’t space available to keep everything. so, with a heavy heart, i put many well-loved, very much marked-up books on the shelf to sell. midas looked through them, and decided to buy about 4-5 of them. the books are totally me kinds of book = they are totally midas kinds of books too. books, like “the alchemist”, “ishmael”, “foundations of the metaphysics of morals”…

this made my heart soar. knowing that midas had these very important books, was like keeping them in some way.

when they left that night, we planned to get together on tuesday (yesterday). we didn’t worry about making plans or any details then, we just knew it was important to set aside some time. so, we did. monday night, i texted midas and asked what they had thought about for our little gathering, if anything. i received a prompt, “we have a little plan.” that was it…

so, tuesday morning, i got a message that they would pick us up about 11 and to dress for outside. this was no surprise to me, they are outdoors kinda people, which i also love.

we climbed in the back seat of their car, between their 2 dogs in the back and our kidnappers in the front, and off we went. we drove about 10-15ish minutes, and found ourselves outside of town, in a wooded area with a few houses and a lake nearby. lina knew where we are. i had no idea. we stopped in front of a little yellow cottage and midas said that they had rented it out for lunch with us. and then he immediately let us know that this was their new summer cottage! they bought it just 2 days before!

lina & i were wonderstruck and excited for them. we knew they’d seen a place, but now it was all there’s! so, the plan was that we’d just chill there, relax outside, and midas would whip up a gourmet vegetarian lunch for us on their back porch. spend some quality time together. and this was the perfect place to do just that. this cottage is really simple, no running water, and so right for them. such a great place to just go and be and breathe.

leonie, lina, & i sat on the porch, chatted, laughed, and i perused this amazing, huge book full of icons… while midas chopped, sautéed, marinated, cut, and sliced away. it smelled like heaven as it sizzled. and then, it was time to eat! four different kinds of salad dishes, which i have vowed to make myself one day. it was totally magnificent. simple and real. just time together. great food. great friends. great discussions (like smoking pot, euthanasia, ethics, conservative christians…) – you know, typical dinner table stuff.

after a few hours, midas had to get to work, so our kidnappers loaded us back into the car and we headed home. it was impossible to say goodbye then, so we decided that just 2-3 days before we leave, lina & i will head to midas’ restaurant one more time. and leonie will meet us there, of course!

what a great lunch adventure! thank you from the bottom of our hearts, midas & leonie. love you both.

go hug a friend today & thank them for simply being in your life. share some peace & love.