My sister, Lindsey and her husband, Lukasz sauntered into their wedding reception over the hopeful cords of Florence and the Machine’s, Dog Days Are Over.

The same song just popped on the Mumford and Son’s Pandora station as I was waiting for my coffee at Starbucks with my ear buds still in.

Lindsey and Lukasz’s wedding was beautiful.  Their reception was a LOT of fun.  But, their DJ (who is a dear friend to Ken and me) got a bit confused during the introductions, and so that part got pretty messed up.

Nevertheless, we danced.

Cause as the song goes:

Happiness hit her like a bullet in the back / Struck from a great height / By someone who should know better than that.

The dog days are over / The dog days are done / Can you hear the horses / ‘Cause here they come.

I don’t always feel prepared when things hit, and I can rip into myself pretty badly for my lack of preparation and prevention.

When I suddenly accept that I’m carrying 20 pounds that my body hasn’t held on to since I was pregnant…but I’m not pregnant.  When my child is so committed to his protest against teeth brushing that he makes himself puke…and my first thought is, “you can sleep in those pukey pajamas.”  (Disclaimer: I did actually help him into clean PJs, but I wasn’t too lovey about it.)  When I drop a ball or worse, forget to pick one up that I’ve already called dibs on.

When this stuff hits I rip and rage, and have a tendency to hold on to the wreckage by replaying my mistakes and misgivings ad nauseum.

But, it wasn’t until Dog Days came on this morning that I even ever paid a second to thinking about what I do – how I react – when out of nowhere, happiness hits.  When I’m afforded the joy of good memories, and reminders of everlasting connections, and the freedom to move, and change, and laugh, and be.

And, so right here in this Starbucks in Brighton – with no one hearing the music, but me – I danced, and people smiled, and the dog days of lamenting and obsessing were over and the work of finding our joy was back in full motion.