Around The Next Corner

We were young, with our whole lives ahead of us. In the process of planning our wedding, we had big dreams of the future.

 Santa Paula, the  little town we lived in, was having a holiday celebration. All the downtown shops displayed historical photos in addition to their Christmas decorations. The Secret Keeper and I were looking at a very old photo of the little red school house that sits just outside of town. In front were about 20 students, girls in pinafores and big bows, boys in knickers and caps. As we gazed, a tiny woman, elegantly dressed with pearls and stunning white hair, walked up with an equally small gent. Clearly, they had both welcomed their 90th decade. I looked over with a smile and she gave me a radiant smile back. Then, using her tremulous finger, she pointed to one of the smaller children in the photo and said, “That is me there and that is Henry”, glancing over to her fragile companion. She went on to explain to us how they had each gone their separate ways, raised their families and only reconnected very recently. They had just been married.

 We chatted for a few minutes and then they shuffled on their merry way to enjoy the rest of the displays and the music.

 Isn’t it wonderful to meet people, at just the right time, just the right place and they reach into your heart and tug? And I am reminded that they had no idea what life had in store, and even though there were some twists and turns, they seemed so happy.
The Little Red School House, founded in 1879, still being used as a K-6 school,  has about 60 students. It still rings the same morning bell it did 100 years ago.

Comments

  1. Marie SmithOctober 21, 2019 at 7:18 AM

    Love this story! Perfect! Love will find a way!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Margaret (Peggy or Peg too)October 21, 2019 at 7:51 AM

    I left a message but it was without my normal name because I am still having issues commenting on some blogs.
    All I wanted to say was this was beautiful. What a happy "accident" you running in to them. Hmmm....

    ReplyDelete
  3. ColetteOctober 21, 2019 at 9:11 AM

    Great story.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnnsterwOctober 21, 2019 at 11:46 AM

    Such perfection! Love this with all my heart!

    ReplyDelete
  5. JeanieOctober 21, 2019 at 12:36 PM

    Oh, I love this story. It's really quite perfect. I wonder how often that happens. Perhaps more than we think.

    ReplyDelete
  6. BillOctober 21, 2019 at 12:58 PM

    Love this story, it is so uplifting.
    Thanks for sharing, Linda!

    ReplyDelete
  7. anne marie in phillyOctober 21, 2019 at 1:49 PM

    neat story! and to have found each other after all those years...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Debra She Who SeeksOctober 21, 2019 at 2:55 PM

    What a wonderful story!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

What do you have to say about that?

Popular posts from this blog

Private Eye

Image
We pass by the house frequently since it sits on a busy thoroughfare. We know to look every time we pass and guess what will we see. Will it be the two Dalmatians, sitting on the couch that backs up to the giant panel window, waiting for their human to come home? Or will it be their human, sitting slightly to the right of middle (allowing for a better view of the giant mounted tv across the room) of the said couch. They are never there at the same time. It’s one or the other. One sleepless night, when my body was willing but my brain was not, I did a little sleuthing. It’s amazing what you can find out about a complete stranger.   His name is Gary and, from what I can tell, he’s never been married. He has worked his way up in a air duct company. He’s now the senior VP but it’s a small company and he still goes out on jobs, judging from  the reviews on Yelp. I know he has two siblings and that their father passed away in 2018. His memorial was held in a Buddhist temple and Gary sr. soun
Read more

Let's Be Perfectly Clear

I would like your input on this letter I am considering sending out. Darryl, I once considered you, if not a friend, a very friendly acquaintance. Our daughters are the same age. I am sure that your daughter is as special to you as mine is to me. McKenna is 21 years old and starting out her life with some tough situations. SHE IS NOT AN OBJECT. She is a person who has her ups and downs, her struggles and triumphs. She has, in the past year, completely alone, had to make scary medical decisions for her mentally ill, addicted father. She has had to watch as the man who was an amazing father slowly turn into a shell of a man who has little to give and much to take. Whether purposefully or accidentally, you have added to her already difficult year. I wonder…would you appreciate my ex-husband leering and making inappropriate comments to your daughter over the course of a long evening? Think about that for a moment!  What were you hoping to achieve with your behavior? Whether
Read more

Go!

Image
 Vai. E, se der medo, vai con medo mesmo. When one is raised in an angry family, it’s not enough to say I don’t want to be angry. You must learn how to do it differently. That’s no easy task. If judgment and self hatred became a way of life, a new way to live has to be taught. There are many ways to do it. Reading, writing, sharing, practicing all help the change. Counseling, psychoanalysis, religion, meditation, gratitude, have the ability to transform but I needed to see it in action, it needed to be more tangible, visual, accessible. I needed to understand the possibilities. There is a YouTube channel that I watch over and over again in order to absorb how to live more fully, more open and from the heart. One of the first episodes that I stumbled on is this…. The channel is Reflections of Life and through it we get to meet people who are doing life a little differently, often more soul based. People who are living life, healing wounds and finding what is truly important.  It can be
Read more