Life Changing Meet-Ups (Take II)

I had no idea that this trip to NYC would prove to be so unforgettable.

For the first time, I hadn't planned everywhere I wanted to go. I didn't have a list a mile long of stores and museums to visit. I had no agenda.

Unheard of, for me. Especially, in NYC.

I mean, this is a mecca for someone like me! Craft, hobby, art stores, book and magazine shops, museums, libraries, gardens.... I can easily find more to do than I have time for.

But this trip, I saved room for a little "Que Sera Sera".

I traveled with my business partner, to attend a hair show and her sister and her daughter tagged along to see NYC. Sis is in education and was telling us that her school nurse was in NYC for specialized treatment for a rare form of cancer and that she really wanted to visit her, did we want to come along? D and I looked at each other. Well....that could be awkward, but it would be a nice gesture, since she was so far from home.

So we went.

Have you ever met someone for the first time and found that, before you knew it, they had completely captured your heart?

I felt a connection to her right away. As we chatted, I found her so approachable.

We visited a vintage clothing store where we gasped at the price tags and the clothes of yesteryear. We tried on hats and held up ridiculous purple dresses (trimmed in fur!) and mused about their former life.

Later, all of us strolled through Saks and when she spotted a dog (in. the. store.), she walked over to give it a pat while the rest of us were numbing our olfactory organ by sniffing perfume.

We came across St. Patrick's Cathedral and walked in to the breathtaking interior.

Then, I got the best souvenir of the entire trip:

I don't know why it never occurred to me to have a photo of the two of us taken together. Maybe because I didn't feel I had a right. Me, a virtual stranger...

So instead, I sneaked one.

I showed her the photo and told her how special it was to me.

We continued our walk for a bit and then she had to catch the bus back.

It was a tearful "so long" for all of us.

But now, I look forward to the day she's back home, where she belongs.

And until then, I'll be praying.