She came upon me in the household cleaning aisle at the grocery store where I was looking for the cleaning vinegar.听
I was scanning the bottles and jugs with what was surely a dumbfounded expression of concentration, when I heard her call my name. I know it鈥檚 going to sound weird, but I believe my friend came down that aisle at the exact moment that I needed to see her.听
Not that I was desperate, or sad or lost or anything. I just mean, sometimes, you see a friend by mere coincidence (or is it?), someone you truly care about, who fills you up with joy just by existing.听
Despite all this, you rarely spend time with them. You see their social media posts, so you sort of know what鈥檚 going on in their world, but you also know them well enough to read between the lines. You鈥檙e connected, but not codependent. Yet you are secure in the knowledge that if you called them, if you were in need, if you reached out, they鈥檇 pick you up. They鈥檇 help. And vice versa.
Angels are humans that show up in your life spontaneously and bring you joy. They exist. You just thought of yours, didn鈥檛 you?
That day, in the grocery store, I was distracted by a list of things to accomplish, and wondering how I was supposed to do it all and still find time for myself in there. It鈥檚 a feeling I鈥檝e been carrying for much of the winter season, like a kite stuck in the branches of a tree in a windstorm; high on the adrenaline of over-achieving, grateful for the view, but questioning how I keep getting myself entangled, when what I really want to do is soar without the worry of doing enough, being enough or having enough. I am and I do. Yet, one good, strong wind could set me free or snap my spars. Depends on the wind.
My friend and I embraced and instantly dove into a high-energy deep exchange about the big stuff, like the changes we鈥檙e feeling as our children are grown, how our careers don鈥檛 seem to define us as they once did, grief in all its complexities, and what detergent really works best on tough odours. Big life stuff.听
Kindred spirits, we were deep in a shared compassion that life, well, it鈥檚 life. Our circumstances are not the same. It doesn鈥檛 matter. No competition, no comparison.
We鈥檙e both sorting through this stage of life where the past and present have collided to help us redefine our 鈥渘ext.鈥� It鈥檚 exciting. It鈥檚 unnerving. It鈥檚 lonely until you鈥檙e reminded that you aren鈥檛 alone in it.
Yes, we were those annoying people who blocked the impatient shoppers who just wanted to get their fabric softener. And I understood their frustration, but this was divine intervention in aisle seven. What better setting could there be for a cleansing conversation than amongst the scents of ocean sensation, forest pines and Hawaiian florals?
This friend was the gentle wind that untangled the strands of my kite鈥檚 tail, tugged gently at the string so I could slide free of the branches, and offered an upward gust that set me back to flight, secure in the knowledge that I鈥檓 figuring life out just like everyone else. I鈥檓 not alone. We aren鈥檛 alone.听
You鈥檒l be happy to know, I also found the last three jugs of cleaning vinegar. Bonus.
