Before I go off on a complete "tangerine," as I heard a good ol' Cajun lady say once, I'll get back to the point. I had one of these Small World moments yesterday. Here's how it went~~
Back story: I belong to a church group that makes food for church members who have lost a loved one, mostly to be served wakes or afterward. Sometimes we also bring food to shut-ins when there's a request. I got one of the latter calls and made arrangements to bring food to an address not too far from my house.
Me: (knocking on door) "Hello, I talked with you on the phone yesterday, and am here to drop off some food."
Her: "Oh, hello. Just a second." (Rattle noises as if searching for deadbolt keys and/or retrieving walker or cane.)
Her: (Unlocking door and letting me into her small apartment.) "Hi there. Thanks for coming..."
[Here we chat a bit and I explain to her I've brought salad, lasagna, cornbread and a miniature chocolate cake. She looks like a little elf with shining eyes as she oohs and ahhs over the food. Then, I don't know how we got on the subject, but I'm telling her about how ill my mother is.]
Her: "Would you mind writing your mom's name down on that little tablet for me so I can pray for her?"
Me: "I sure will. And I'll write your name down to take with me too since you live so near me. I'm always on the road, and I bring food to my parents' often. It'd be my pleasure to bring you some again if you're ever in need." [I write Mom's name down for her.]
Her: "Hmm. That name is so familiar. Is your Dad's name _____? I knew someone with that name a long time ago. There couldn't be two because it's quite unusual. I once lent them my baby stroller when they had their twins."
Me: "Yes, that's my dad and mom! And I'm one of those twins. See, I'm paying you back after all these years for helping my family out." (Laughing.)
[Here there is much hugging and promises to pray for each others' families, and to meet up again soon. She pats me on the shoulder with her arthritis-crippled hand and reminds me to tell my parents Charlie Jo Thibodaux sends her regards.]
I just love these Small World happenings. They're almost as good as those unexplainable "coinkidinks" or "Godincidences." Feels nice to be part of something bigger. Something being directed by a much larger force outside oneself. Something kind, gentle, just and just a tad humorous.
Have you had a Small World meeting lately? If so, please share. They're fascinating.
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25 comments:
Oh I loved this story!! I believe God sets up those times up for us!
I met a lady on a writers board and after a year or so we got to talking and she asked what church I went to. I knew she was in FLA somewhere. When I told her--she said she went there too--then she asked what SS class and come to find out--it was hers but she hadn't been in awhile. That next Sunday, she said look for me in the white blouse. We met and have been friends since! Small world from the Internet too!
Wow, how cool is that! The universe is always slinging us towards each other, ain't it?
And you sure are special, Ms. Thang *smiling*
WOrd Verification of the day: reekerid
Terri, so cool! Yes, He's very good about showing us our connections to others and Himself, isn't He?
LOL, Kat. Birds of a feather...(and I'm going to remove the word verification thingy once again, and see how many foreign 10-page long spams I get). :)
Karma at her finest.
Indeedy, Travis. And She's got one heck of a long memory. I like dat! (Sorry to hear of your latest woes with the identity theft.) Hope karma boomarangs quick on that one!
I think I'll write about my "small world" story on my blog this weekend...thanks for the writing prompt!
Linda, the comment form musta hiccuped and posted twice for you, so I deleted one. :) Glad you found writing fodder here! And I'll be mailing out your prize today. Congrats again on finding Mr. Al E. Gator.
I love these kinds of stories. I actually did have a "it's a small world moment" but many years ago when I was married to my first husband. I was visiting my sister in a close by town and we decided we wanted to rent a movie. So we went to her local video store. A lady was in there looking for movies as well and for some reason we struck up a conversation as we both waited to have our movies checked out. We began talking about the kinds of movies being released and then about our kids and then about our husbands. For some reason she asked my husband's last name and I told her. She replied with "is he the ______'s from ______ who own the ______ business?" I said that was part of his family and come to find out our husband's were cousins.
Yes, it is a small world after all!
I have to go back a way for my small world story. My wife and I were visiting Scotland back in 1975, standing in a crowd watching some Highland Dancers.
The man next to us hears our accent and asks, "You wouldn't be from Canada would you?"
We say yes.
"Well you wouldn't happen to know..." and he gives the name of our next door neighbour.
There is a moment of astonished silence until my wife and I recall our neighour has a fairly common name and Canada is a pretty big country.
The man then gives us the address of our neighbour's house.
He turns out to be our neighbour's brother.
Suddenly the world starts to feel way to small.
Pretty interesting. I belong to some writing orgs. and once a girl joined who lives in a city nearby. So I welcomed her and mentioned that I lived here too. We became MySpace friends and suddenly discovered that she had gone to my high school and once dated my hubby's best friend.
It was kind of cool. :-)
Your story, however, sounds like a divine appointment.
No small world meetings for me as of late, more like deja vu moments, Angie. However, I'm going to have to leave you with Barney's theme song for getting the Small World song stuck in my head all day! : D
hugs
I had tears in my eyes invisioning the hugs with this lady. I in no way think that was by accident. You too needed a good word about your mom and you got a blessing as well.
My story is a blog on. On Sept. 25th I had a birthday. Through blog connections I found someone with my same birthday (day and Year!) We posted over several days and we have so much in common. I posted about it. I felt so blessed to have a connection with someone from across the US I could connect with. Yes...I'm singin' the song!
Thanks for this post. Close to home, how about PW and I. Who knew? Oh thats right, you did.
Oren
What a beautiful story! I was just surprised the other day when I heard someone I knew shouting my name on the street! (Chicago is a big city and I only know a small group of people so far)
aww, but those WV are so fun *laughing* -- but, yeah, the spam sucks -- I wonder how we're keeping it off the YOG? or is there word v there? huhn.
Ang, that is strange. Hope what you said about the ex was all nice. :)
Barry, what a great example! Reminds me of the time my dad was on a small ferry going to Sicily. Yep, he knew someone aboard!
Thanks, Jessica. I had a similar experience with one of my best friends today. We were in a writers group and looked familiar to one another. Turns out, she'd gone to my same high school, even tho we were a few years apart. :)
Oh, Kim, thanks so much for the annoying replacement song. LOL. I have those deja vu moments too. Leaves ya kinda hung up between reality and the outer planet zone.
AVT, cool example with your Internet connection. And, yeah, I thought my Small World meeting was pretty dang cool!
Oren, ya made me smile again.
Thanks, Rach, and I bet you were surprised. Baton Rouge is no one-horse town either. :)
Kathryn, don't know if we use word verification on the YOG. So far, so good without spam today since I took it off here again.
Great story! :>)
I have one a day. At. Least. I find them very reassuring.
Sure did- I was getting my hair done last week my hairdresser's next appt came in, a guy, and we were talking about Halloween costumes. He said he was going as Hagrid from Harry Potter, that he had the costume from dressing up like him before... and I said,
Where?"
Him: "Barnes and Nobles last July for the minight release party,"
I remember this guy because he was the ONLY Hagrid there and was HUGE and his costume was amazing. I took a picture with him (I was dressed up to!) I said, "No kidding! I was Tonks! I have a picture of you and I together."
Also, turns out his camera film that night had gotten exposed, so he had no pics...I emailed him some. YAY!
Thank you, jylnc. Glad you enjoyed.
Carrie, how cool is that??
Love your Small World story, Colby. :)
Wonderful, warm tale! ~ Deb
Yeah, it gave me an all day warm fuzzy, Deb!
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