Keep it Real Wednesday
November 16, 2022
Serendipity
One evening last week The Blessing Bike was invited to speak at a fancy function in downtown Boise. As I was getting my clothes ready, I looked down at my dingy black shoes and knew it was time to go shoe shopping. A memory of an old friend was circling in my head (RIP Adrienne) shaking her finger at me and saying “Jill, you always look nice enough, but you wear your shoes much too long. Buy new shoes”. This friend passed away years ago, but I think of her every single time I need to dress for an event.
I double-checked my shoes. My closet was full of dingy scratched shoes, so I went shopping and treated myself to new shoes.
Thirty minutes before I had to run out the door for the evening, I took the new shoes out of the box and put them on my feet. The comfortable shoes I tried on at the store were now painful to walk in. I couldn’t figure it out. How in the world would I wear these standing for 4 hours tonight at this event?
It was too late to go buy another pair. I walked around the house thinking maybe I can just break them in, but nothing worked.
I cried a tiny bit.
I know that sounds shallow. I cried over shoes.
Then, the tears quickly turned to out loud laughter as I realized I had the shoes on the WRONG FEET.
I laughed so hard with tears running down my face as I knew Rosemary was with me at that exact moment.
You see, she had a similar experience.
A few years back I was taking Rosemary to get her hair cut and was concerned about her lack of stability when walking even with her walker. I was worried she had another TIA or other medical event that was making her unstable, but she seemed otherwise okay. I was watching her carefully and contemplating contacting her medical provider.
I decided to enlist the help of her hairdresser Jenn to see if I was overreacting. Jenn also noticed Rosemary was a bit wobbly. Should I call the doctor’s office? Take her to the ER?
Jenn had Rosemary sit down in the hair-washing station, lie back, and elevate her feet in the chair while we talked. That’s when Jenn glanced down and noticed Rosemary’s sneakers were on the wrong feet.
We all laughed until we cried.
It might be a simple coincidence that the same thing happened to me on a day when I was nervous and taking life a bit too seriously.
OR
Maybe, just maybe, it was Rosemary helping me make light of a stressful situation.
That evening from the podium, before I spoke, I looked down at my feet, took a deep breath, giggled a wee bit, and smiled at my shoes.
I am eternally grateful for the serendipity.
