Unplanned Encounters.....

Last week Chris and I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few grocery items. Little did we know that what seemed to be a quick errand would profoundly change the way I view life. As I said, we only had a few items to get. One of which was coffee creamer. We approached the dairy isle and there was a lady standing there making her choice. As she browsed the selection we patiently waited. After she had decided what she wanted, she turned and saw that we were standing there and gave a small smile. She appeared to walk away. However, as Chris reached into the dairy case to get the coffee creamer that he likes, we hear "why would you buy that one? It's a dollar more than the other brand." The lady we had been waiting to move was questioning Chris' choice. This exchange started what would be nearly an hour long conversation. Normally, I would have found a polite way to move along to get back to my shopping but on this particular day something stopped me. This sweet lady told us how the store brand bread is the same bread but in different packaging than a particular name brand. She also told us that the store brand milk was the same milk as that packaged by the name brand milk company.  I'm not sure how but the conversation went from discussing the price of food to how she came to live in Alabama. It was very clear that she was from Massachusetts. Her accent was undeniable. She began to tell us about a dance her mother forced her to attend as a young girl. It appears that she met her future husband at that dance. He was in the military during WWII. What was so fascinating about her story was that she was recalling every detail as if it happened only yesterday. She had a twinkle in her eye and the way she spoke of her husband made impossible any doubt that she truly loved this man. As she is telling this story I was quickly doing the math in my head

and coming to the conclusion that this lady is well into her 80's. Upon this realization, I became even more intrigued by her sharpness, sass and vivaciousness. Yet, there seemed to be a deep loneliness. As our conversation continued, it became apparent that her beloved husband had passed away. Though she spoke fondly of her grown children there was an obvious unspoken emptiness her husband once filled. There were many more stories and I enjoyed every one. Listening to this lady talk about her life reminded me of how short life truly is and how we only have a short time to make it everything it has the potential to be.   One day I will be that lady. How do I want to reflect on my life? How do I want to tell my story to strangers in Wal-Mart? I hope it's with a twinkle in my eye, sharpness, sass and vivaciousness.