I had to run into the grocery store yesterday to quickly
grab something for dinner and as I was headed out, I dashed over to the women’s
clothing department. Okay, fine, it wasn’t just the grocery store. It was Wal-Mart. I was in Wal-Mart, people. But, in my days as a soccer coach (go ahead and laugh) it’s become quite apparent that my ummm, shall we say, “active wear”
collection isn’t very extensive. So I
thought I’d see what they had that didn’t cost a fortune because clearly my
future doesn’t lie in professional preschool sports coordinating.
And that’s when I saw her.
A mom strolling the clearance section, supporting the head of a sleeping
toddler as she napped there in the cart. I smiled at her. A “been there, done that” smile. She said, “Now she sleeps. Great timing, huh?” And I laughed. And I commiserated. Because a child that sleeps at the wrong time
will likely go to bed at the wrong time.
And we all know how that goes.
She seemed to want (or maybe need) to talk. So, she stood
next to me as I eyed the $9 yoga capris.
We both noted our love for black clothing. And she told me that the kind of pants that
she was wearing were a few racks over.
She told me how comfortable they were and how they went with so many
things. I walked with her and found she
was right in that this was exactly what I needed. We laughed about the mom-uniform. I wished her well. And she did the same to me.
I really didn’t have time to talk. I had ten other things on my to-do list that now
had to be edited to eight. But, I really
didn’t have time NOT to talk. Because
she and I-we are the same. We are
warriors marching towards a common goal.
And if one of my comrades need to talk—even to a stranger in Walmart—how
could I not have time for that?
You see, she lifted me up, too. I left there with the confidence that we’re
all walking the same road. Some of us
are just holding up the head of an overtired toddler while we’re doing it. Look around you, my sweet readers. Sometimes strangers are just friends we haven’t
met yet. <3 nbsp="" p="">
