Divine Connections
A few years back when I lived near Federal Way in WA, I used to love walking the trails from my apartment complex to a nearby park in the evenings. Every now and then I would venture to a coffee shop and do a little people-watching. This was pre-covid when doing so was a thing, and strip malls were just about everywhere. spring and summer yield mild evenings and the sun usually doesn’t set until 8 pm or later.
I was feeling a bit low and decided to go for a longer than usual walk, going a bit outside of my usual neighborhood. In doing so, I came across a lovely woman who was struggling with carrying a few groceries. I momentarily forgot my own troubles and went to help her with her own burden, so gratefully smiled and I asked her where she lived and if I could help her. She seemed a bit hesitant, but led me to her home and thanked me for assisting her. There was a bit of a language barrier, but having had a French Grandmother, I was able to quickly determine what she was saying to me in (I am assuming) Polish, but a smile goes a long way. No one had ever stopped before to help her, it was rare that a stranger would, she lived alone and was grateful for the help, she invited me to sit with her and have a cup of coffee and we exchanged a few stories about life. She spoke in broken English with a few pauses along the way when she did not know the word to use, with a smile and a funny look on her face. “Oops, she would say” and I would laugh.
I had been dealing with some rather harsh life lessons, having loved someone who quite frankly could never and would never love me, unrequited is probably the deepest hurt, on top of that, I was also trying to manage a few issues with an unscrupulous roommate who had damaged my vehicle after I loaned it to them for the night. This woman who was a perfect stranger to me, gave me some advice in dealing and a few words in seeing my value, and not casting pearls before swine, while old fashioned, it certainly still makes sense in today's world.
We both needed a friend on that day, and it helped in easing a lonely heart. I never saw this person again, it was as if she never existed, and who knows, it could have been one of those unexplainable moments when someone was trying to send me a message and it was delivered in the perfect moment and form. Who is to say? I do believe in the divine.
I know that it was a moment of kindness in a bleak time in both of our lives; one that left a lasting impression of hope and faith that everything would work out exactly as it should.
This story also appears on Thrive Global. Join me on my community column each week if you’d like to read more.
