Yesterday I had the most traumatic experience of having to send K and N to DC on a bus by themselves. I've never sent them on such a trip alone before but I figured K is 15 now and she's really good with her sister and it's a non-stop bus and Mari would be waiting for them on the other side. I made K fully charge her phone and advised them to sit near the bus driver. I packed them a hearty lunch, some groceries for the week and all was set.
We get to the line for the bus and everything is cool; I bought them some donuts, we'd been joking around all morning and it was a beautiful Sunday. Then, as they were boarding, N breaks down in tears. "I don't want to go without you," she says to me and I died inside. If Mari hadn't spent all that money on the tickets and set aside this very busy week to spend private time with her nieces I would have canceled the trip RIGHT THERE. She was crying so hard that I almost cried.
Then this woman got off the bus- a lovely woman named Diane- and informed me that she had two daughters, too, and knows "what it's like." She promised to sit behind them and make sure they were alright all the way to Arlington. That almost made me cry, too. This stranger, angel, really, came out of nowhere to assure me my babies would be OK, and she said the magic words: "I have two daughters, too, so I know what it's like."
This older white lady that under normal circumstances I would have made fun of made me feel better about a bad situation: I was too broke and unemployed to accompany my kids to DC like I wanted to. And N's birthday is only a week or so away and I still don't know how we're celebrating it. And I was unable to send K off to sleep away camp this summer so DC had to happen.
Because The Mommies understood. And they've been in my shoes. And everything will work out fine because The Mommies have my back.
This was especially evident when Diane waited with my kids in Arlington until Mari, who was running late, came to pick them up.
Wherever this woman is now, in whatever she's doing, I wish her a million-trillion blessings; I cried a little less when I got home knowing that my babies had a safe trip because of her.
*smooches...thankful for the random acts of kindness*
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I like how my world just seems to balance itself out- right when one person is acting very douche-like, another comes along and overshadows the douchiness with beauty
Monday, August 09, 2010
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6 comments:
Aww, how special. There are still good people in the world.
I love it when karmic influences come together to remind us that all humans are a-holes, that some are actually still quite good.
My parents divorced when I was about five or so and the first trip that my sister I made alone, to see my dad, I was probably only seven or so. I can only imagine now how my mom must have felt. But, like you, we were always blessed to have someone take us under their wing as soon as we said goodbye to mom at the airport.
I hope they have an awesome visit!
Awww. That's awesome! Sometimes the kindness of strangers can realyl help you make it through the day.
Diane will be blessed. That's for sure.
I was impressed that the woman waited with them, that takes a special kind of person. It's good to know that there are still good people out there.
from experience, I have learned that there are more good people in the world than bad. its just that we tend to focus on the bad ones instead of the good ones...
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