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by Vanessa Wesley
I had planned to be at a wedding reception, but there I was sitting at Starbucks with my laptop, sipping a grande cafe mocha. I had put the reception date in my calendar; it was to be a fabulous celebration. A dear friend was marrying after the passing of his wife a year ago to progressive illness. All his friends were joyful that he had found another companion, another mate. I was really looking forward to this celebration. The wedding party had reserved the fabulous mega-multi-million dollar African American Museum in the cultural district of Detroit for the event...imagine!
Imagine was all I could do as I sat there in Starbucks. I had just dropped my daughter off to her high school Homecoming Dance. This was her first dance. She had planned to go with another girlfriend, but her friend changed the plans and my daughter ended up with no ride to the event. What could I do?
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The only thing to do was listen within for direction. I noticed that whenever I thought about attending the reception I felt constriction and tightness. Whenever I thought about helping out my daughter I felt energy and inspiration.
I followed the energy. We had a fabulous time picking out shoes.... oh my! These shoes are ... well let's just say I couldn't walk in them! Then we did all the "girly" things like make-up and hair. Before leaving for the dance we snapped several pictures. My 15-year-old who usually donned jeans and a shirt was transformed into a stunning young woman. I was a proud mama.
So here I was in Starbucks getting ready to settle down into an evening of writing. There was no one else in the place; it was just me and the baristas. Suddenly, a woman stuck her head in the door and asked if that was my Subaru parked out front. It wasn't. She knew that the car belonged to a friend of hers, but wondered where she was, and thought perhaps it may be my car. It wasn't.
I suggested she try the sandwich shop a few doors down. She returned a few minutes later exclaiming that it was odd, she just KNEW it was her friend's car. She excitedly told me how their daughters had gone to middle school together and now in high school were attending Homecoming tonight. Bingo! Mine too, I exclaimed back. She took a seat.
As she scribbled out a note to her friend to leave on her car she began talking. It was amazing. She'd say something and I'd say "Me too!" Then I would say something, and she would exclaim, "Me too!" It went on that way for over two hours, until finally the Starbucks crew turned out the lights signaling they were closing. She then noticed that her friend had come, picked up her car and had left, and the note never did get placed on the car. We call these moments in Your Essential Whisper, Collapsed Time. We had no idea two hours had passed. We were transported into another world. We had met before, on some level, she was always known to me.
We still had an hour before Homecoming was over so we found another spot to sit and continue our conversation. The conversation flowed, a bond was established, and a friendship was formed.
Later when we parted to get our daughters we both noticed that her friend, unknowingly, brought us together. We laughed as we both realized the Wonderment of the Whisper. She planned to go straight home after dropping her daughter off, but instead found herself pulled by her friend's car. I planned to be at a wedding reception, and then planned to write at Starbucks, but instead found myself deep in conversation with this woman.
So whose plans did we follow? It is a week later as I am typing this and in just a few hours from now, we are getting together to see a play. Our daughters will meet for the first time. We've got the tickets, we are meeting for a quick bite first.
Well, that's our plan, anyway!
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