Happy :) Normal :) :) :) -- Reflections

Earlier today, thanks to a birthday gift from a friend, I had a delicious! meal at a real Greek diner, Panos, in Harrisonburg ....

As I sat there drinking coffee from the ubiquitous heavy white cup, looking out the window, I realized ... I feel normal.  I felt that way, because I was sitting in a diner.

Now, let me put this in perspective:  there are plenty of things that make me happy:

Animals (Delilah and Big Mama; CoCo and Myndie Ruth; friends pets; videos ...)
Good food
Books
A beautiful-weather day
Having clean clothes to put on myself

And then there are things that make me feel normal, like the aforementioned diner, and:
Shopping
Being with a friend or in a group of friends.  Being around my Dad.   Being in a relationship.
Writing
Reading
Being really dressed-up


And so here is what I know:  that on a daily basis, I can certainly! and I do, for mental health!, find something(s) to make my heart and my soul happy ... but feeling normal is a far more elusive feeling the older I grow, and more and more people///places///et al, exit stage left.........