Running Into Old Friends

Nearly finished with the elementary open house one night, my first grader wanted to see just more thing. So my husband took him back upstairs while I found a chair to rest this 8-month pregnant body and waited with the two other boys at the library downstairs. People were still coming and going in and out of the library, lots of familiar faces, some not so familiar. Then, a family walks by and I recognize the mom, well sort of. You know, that moment of impulse recognition and the second moment of ‘is that really her?”

So they walk on in and I see the entire family. My long lost friend turned around. I see her better and sure enough it was her! At this point, there was no way I could let her go without saying hello. I caught her eye and she lights up, surprised of course, “Sherri!” We were both kind of shocked to run into each other at all but especially at the open house because usually by mid year at school everyone looks familiar. Turns out they were just a few weeks new to the school so that explains not running into each other there before.

We caught up briefly, tried to make it quick, I got her email/phone number and said our good-byes. We had been pretty good friends for at least five yrs, gym friends basically, until schedules changed, kids got into school, or, for me, family continued to grow. They had moved around the city some as well so we just lost touch when the gym routine changed.

It was just such a pleasant surprise. Much like running into the third of our gym threesome from back then. Just a month ago I ran into this other friend. Grocery store run ins happen all the time, not a huge deal but still she had been on my mind for some time and I was glad to connect. The bigger coincidence was that I ran into this same friend two summers ago when we both just happened to converge in the same room, same exhibit, same museum, same city (DC, fifteen hundred miles away), on the same day during summer vacation! Talk about two squealing ladies. She had her two girls and I had my daughter and the girls all thought we were nuts, of course. It WAS a little nutty, unbelievable, but so good to catch up even if we live seven miles apart in our regular lives and had to travel thousands to run into each other. What are the odds?

I simply adore happenstance, the serendipity in life that brings us together. So many times in our lives we have reached a point when overwhelmed and on the verge of giving up. And, just then the solution presented itself, the money was found, the keys appeared, the right rental fell in our lap, or just the right person stepped back into our lives. I just thought how appropriate to re-connect with these two ladies, totally by accident after having them both on my mind a lot lately. And, I have to wander did I run into these ladies because I had been thinking of them or was I thinking of them because I was going to run into them soon? Hhhhmmmm….

A Moment with Music

I know I am an emotional creature, especially right now, but while acting as my daughter’s music stand for a bit of last minute practicing before her solo/ensemble competition, I was incredibly moved by her music. She looked so natural with the cello seated between her knees; the simple notes, the 7th grade solo, fully focused on the sheet music, attention to every detail, the way arm and bow effortlessly move as one. Many different string instruments warm up, playing different pieces at a variety of skill levels all at one. Nothing is together but sounds beautiful anyway. And, yet, for 90 seconds while I held her music I was moved to gentle, quite, unnoticed tears. Moved by the music, the pure beautiful cello tones, and her pure beautiful, heart behind them.