Penny Lane

I am pretty sure there is no other 13 year old on earth who can tell you the year every Beatles song was produced, where and when it was first performed, and which guitar John Lennon was playing. Oh sure, some kids with brains like that are well on the way to curing cancer. And perhaps this little Beatlemaniac will one day outgrow this passion. There is for now no indication of waning interest. Curing cancer is momentarily set aside.

We had spent the drive from my parents' house to Richmond listening to her complete Beatles collection. We drove through gorgeous green valleys lined in mountains. I kept a running commentary on the spectacular scenery but she was lost in the sounds and probably images of her beloved Beatles.

Now, wearing one of her nine Beatles shirts, she followed Matt, Karissa, and me into the Penny Lane Pub in Richmond.

I had gone walking for two hours while Matt finished his second day of law internship. I had never been to Richmond and love exploring by foot new places. Asherel stuck with me for an hour but the heat felled her, so she returned to the hotel.

I wandered on alone through this astonishingly beautiful historic city filled with huge stone and brick mansions, lacy iron work gates, and chiseled roses and faces in porticos above hotel doors. There seemed to be a large homeless population and we greeted each other with smiles and waves. My job was to find a quirky place for us all to eat that night. (Not the homeless people. They were on their own. I was charged to find food just for Matt and his bride to be, Asherel, and myself.)

"You won't believe what I found, " I texted Asherel.

As we entered Penny Lane pub, a red phone booth stood to my right. I smiled knowingly at Asherel. Red phone booths figure prominently in Beatle lore.

"Will I like this place?" she had asked when I had texted her with our dinner plans.

A Beatles song greeted us.
"Ok, I like it here, " she smiled.
So the four of us ate food Ringo, John, Paul, and George might have supped on while the only music played were Beatle songs. Pictures from Liverpool covered the wall. Matt drank a British concoction of cider and stout beer while telling us about his job as a law intern. Karissa, the world's most perfect fiancee had filled his apartment with food,bought him a bed, and arranged his parking permit while he worked. That night she would return to her own place an hour away to pack up and move out, newly graduated.

Asherel munched her fish and chips.

What is God saying to me today, I wondered. Sometimes you just have to pause and sing:

Penny lane is in my ears and in my eyes There beneath the blue suburban skies I sit...

Psalm 90:14 NIV

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

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