Women are Special Indeed

I have been blessed with so many wonderful friends in my life. Even though we don't all live near one another (hi to IL and MN!), we keep in touch. Friendship between women can be very powerful. Below is a story of something that happened to me that was unplanned yet was very touching.


Two years ago September I went to Washington DC to visit my brother and go to the National Book Festival with my parents and brother. On my return trip to Madison, I had to connect in Chicago. It's always a nightmare, but I got on the plane and we headed to Madison. Just before we were to land, we were informed that the landing gear had issues and we had to turn back to Chicago as it has a longer runway. I've traveled a lot and had never had an issue where there was a possibility that we would have problems landing. I was admittedly tired, but I started to cry because it made me think that I wouldn't be able to see my husband and kids. A couple in front of me saw that I was traveling alone and that I was crying (I was trying to be discreet, but evidently that wasn't working!). When we landed, flanked by fire engines. We got off the plane and eventually we were faced with taking a bus or a flight the next morning.
Meanwhile, the couple who noticed that I was traveling alone adopted me and we went to get a beverage and the bus. It turns out that they were from a neighboring town where I live. We bonded immediately and it turns out they are book lovers too so we had a lot to talk about. We took the bus back to the Madison airport. At some point they realized that they had put their car keys in a suitcase that didn't arrive due to our messed up flight. I volunteered to take them home - it's 20 minutes from where I live - no big deal. They were grateful and we exchanged email and info. I was just happy that we'd met.



The woman had given me the name of a book that I MUST read - "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan." I read it shortly thereafter and it was so meaningful to me. When I saw Lisa See (the author) last summer, I had her sign "Peony in Love" (Lisa's second book) for my new friend. I thought it would be a nice gift for her. We'd been trying to get together and have lunch, etc. but it just hadn't worked out - especially with the horrible winter here. We finally got together at a coffee shop/book store. I gave her the book that Lisa had signed and she was so grateful - we had a really touching human moment and we both teared up. Just very special. She said that she'd just been talking to a friend of hers who was reading "Peony" and she was going to get it. We decided the next time Lisa See was in town, we're going to go see her together.


I sent Lisa See a note thanking her for bringing women together so that they can have the special human moments. While I'd like to think my marriage would have those and certainly motherhood does, it's so meaningful for women to connect, to realize they are not alone and they are special.

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