Saturday, September 14th

There are two ways your day can go.

There are those mornings when you wake up and your day is planned. There is a time and place for each moment of your life.

Then there are those mornings when you wake up and a surprise awaits you just around the corner.

Today was the second type of those days.

Beautiful afternoon, I decided to drive over to Somerville (New Jersey) to take a walk. It’s a charming little town that has reinvented itself over the past decade with restaurants, shops, and bars. One of the biggest changes, they turned Division Street, from a cross street to a walking mall. There are unique shops on either side, with round metal tables and chairs throughout the walking area.

On my walk, I start on one side of town. I go down the main street, cross over, then up the other side of Main Street, loop through Division Street, then back to where I started.

Repeat as necessary.

On my first loop through Division Street, I noticed something in front of one of the storefronts named ‘Soul Trip’.

Two women sat across from each other over a small, cloth-covered table, the size of a school desk. What caught my eye was on the table. Three rows of cards, and they looked familiar.

Tarot Cards.

I kept walking, but my interest was peaked. Went back, and saw a small sign tacked atop the sandwich board for the shop, ‘Tarot Readings: Saturday 12 – 3 pm. $25’.

When I returned from my second walk around Somerville, the table was empty.

I’ve been told by my brother and a friend (both named Joe) I should not indulge my interest in psychics.

The reason? Because we are not meant to know what our future holds (like, will Al ever go out on a date again? But I digress).

After a quick rationalization that tarot card readings were different than psychics, I stepped inside the shop.

But I had another problem.

When I walk, I don’t carry money. I do, however, have two credit cards and a twenty-dollar bill tucked inside a compartment on the back of my cell phone case.

After a quick scan of the floor, I spot the young woman from the tarot reading behind the counter with another young woman. As I moved toward the counter, and the tarot card reader, I began to tell her my problem.

“Good afternoon,” I asked, “you do the tarot reading, right?”

She said she was, so I continued.

“Well, I would love to get a reading,” I said as I tried to open the back of my cell phone case. “But, I don’t have twenty-five dollars, but I do have…”

Just as I said that I snapped the back off of the cell phone case, and a neatly folded twenty-dollar bill fell on the counter.

I further explained that I only had twenty dollars on me, but that I had a blog (handed her my card) and I could help promote her, and the store, in a post.

The two women agreed, and off to the table, we went.

The reading would be done by a twenty-three-year-old woman named Azaruh. We chatted briefly while she prepared the deck (but I gave her no personal details).

Azaruh then asked what kind of reading did I want. She explained she could do general, career, love…

I stopped her on love.

Told her I was retired, so career meant nothing.

General was too, well, general.

And since lately I think constantly about meeting someone (we’ll get back to that), I said let’s do love.

First, this is how tarot cards work (my understanding).

There are three rows of cards pulled from the deck.

The first row represents my current situation.

The second row represents what I should change to improve my current situation.

The third row would represent advice from my spiritual guides.

I know nothing about tarot cards, so she could have said anything, but when the first card hit the table, she said this:

“You overthink everything in a relationship.”

That did and did not, surprise me.

It surprised me only because this young woman, whom I just met, was spot on with her assessment.

It did not surprise me because the biggest problem I ever had before, during, and after a relationship, is that I do overthink everything (check).

As more cards dropped, she continued, “Even when you invest more into a relationship than your partner, and it is not appreciated, or returned, you still try to maintain that relationship.” (check).

Then added, “You need to exude more confidence.”

(oh, for the love of god, check, check, check)

Was this woman having me followed?

Azaruh continued to pull cards and soon filled the first and second rows.

Could not tell you exactly what she said once we started the second row, because what she said was not important. I’ve had this exact conversation with family and friends about my attitude and actions while in a relationship.

The difference now, however, was that same conversation now came from a total stranger. Also, the fact that she was right on so many levels, amazed me. Somehow, it hit home coming from this woman more than it did from others.

I equate it to when I was married, and Arlene asked my opinion on a subject, and would immediately dismiss my reply without a thought. But, if someone else gave that exact same opinion to her inquiry, she would inevitably reply, “That’s a good idea.”

It felt good to talk to Azaruh about this, and I really did feel better as we talked.

Then it hit me.

“You should do tarot card therapy,” I said. “Become a tarot card therapist, you’d have very little competition.”

As Azaruh shuffled the deck for the third row (spiritual guides), a few cards jumped from the deck and fell to the ground.

“See,” I said, “even my spiritual guides don’t know what to do with me.”

When it was over, I thanked her, and actually felt better about my future.

With all the uncertainty ahead of me, there was one thing I knew for certain at that moment.

I knew that when I woke up that morning, the furthest thing in my mind was that I would be sitting at a table, in the middle of Division Street in Somerville, surrounded by dozens of people, with a young woman as we discussed my love life.

Who knew (well, maybe Azaruh did).

* * *

Author’s Note: My brother and my friend (the two Joes) are not going to like this, but here I go.

If you find yourself on Division Street in Somerville some Saturday afternoon (between 12 and 3 pm), go to ‘Soul Trip’, and say hello to Azaruh. Whether you believe in tarot cards or not, she’s a joy to talk to.

Also, I found it to be very therapeutic.

Tell her Al sent you...