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Serendipity Smiles …
… And Also Sings
“Strawberries in wintertime” is a favorite phrase I use for an unexpected delight, its origins dating to when I was age 10 and visited California for the first time during Christmas break.
A highlight surpassed perhaps only by my Ohioan debut swim in the freezing ocean near the Ventura Pier was gorging on a flat of sun-warmed strawberries from a roadside stand in Saticoy. In the Midwest we only ate strawberries in summertime.
All of which is to put into perspective a strawberries-in-wintertime treat I recently enjoyed. Or, I suppose, it was Christmas in August. Semantics aside, here’s the specifics: my adult daughter and I went on a “Daddy date” as she has called our just-the-two-of-us outings ever since kindergarten.
Oftentimes, with Mom and Brother staying home, we would go out to dinner and my lovely date always insisted on wearing a pretty dress. In turn, I would bring her flowers and open the car door for her because both were things she should expect boys worth dating to do when she got older.
Our “Daddy dates” have continued for nearly three decades, through high school and college and grad school; even through her finding a date who not only opened her car door and gave her flowers, but gave her a diamond ring. She, in turn, gave him a daughter eight months ago.
Singer-songwriter Amber Rubarth
Being a mom and wife and author can leave little time for being a daughter, and thus our most recent “Daddy date” was indeed a strawberries-in-wintertime evening together.
Backstory. Three years past, my daughter and I flew to Seattle solely to attend a concert by one of her favorite musicians, Amber Rubarth. The award-winning folk singer-songwriter has provided the soundtrack of my daughter’s life since teen-hood when she first saw Rubarth play in the intimate confines of ol’ Zoey’s Café in Ventura.
During life’s sunny days, my daughter beamed listening to Rubarth’s songs. More importantly, during stormy nights of tears, she drew strength and inspiration from Rubarth’s penetrating lyrics.
My daughter’s husband, who had never strummed a guitar, spent six months learning one song to play when he proposed – “Quiet” which Rubarth recorded in duet with Jason Mraz. Not surprisingly, at my daughter’s wedding the bride and groom danced to Rubarth’s “Song to Thank the Stars.”
What is surprising, however, is that on that wedding day Rubarth posted a Tweet to her many thousands of Followers: “Congratulations @DallasWoodburn on your big day!! So happy for you two!”
Rubarth knew about the nuptials because a year earlier, after seeing her in concert, my daughter cathartically wrote an essay – a letter, actually, addressed “Dear Amber Rubarth” – expressing how important the singer’s music has been to her. She then sent it off into the ether of the Internet like a message in a bottle.
One paragraph tucked inside the corked glass read: “I felt myself in your songs. I felt understood. I listened to your beautiful, fragile, strong voice sing bravely and vulnerably about love and hope and healing, and for the first time in quite some time I felt excited to fall in love again. I felt like the world was indeed a wondrous place and that there was magic out in the future waiting for me.”
Through magic, the heartfelt words unexpectedly reached Rubarth and were strawberries in wintertime to her ears. She emailed Dallas and a small friendship was born.
All the same, Amber did not know Dallas recently moved to Fremont nor did Dallas know Amber was about to play a concert there. At the last moment, serendipity smiled and sang.
To be continued next week.
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FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM: @woodywoodburn
Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @woodywoodburn. His books are available at www.WoodyWoodburn.com.
Check out my memoir WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece” and my essay collection “Strawberries in Wintertime: Essays on Life, Love, and Laughter” …
- Personalized signed copies are available at WoodyWoodburn.com