My friend Coral and I were eating at Fresh Lemongrass in Vernon yesterday when out of the corner of my eye I couldn’t help but notice a sweet little old lady sitting to the table next to us, enjoying her lunch alone.
I instantly felt myself drawn to connect with her, the moment I saw her. But I didn’t know why. The feeling was palpable in my heart and it was strong, like a 5/10 at first, but then started to grow.
I tried to ignore it but eventually I couldn’t NOT talk to her, the pull was so strong. 7/10.
And so as I noticed we were eating the same dish, I awkwardly blurted out to her,
“Mmmmm 🤤 isn’t their wonton soup the best?!” (in the fashionably dorky way I would say that. If you know you know.)
And even though she thought I was a serial killer at first (probably), she shot two kind eyes back at me and said, “Oh yes. It’s the best.” 👵🏻✨
I think she may have even done that little cute grandma dance inside her body. You know, the one granny’s do when they’ve said or done something that fills them with absolute self satisfaction?…
Anyway, I turned back to Coral, but the persistent feeling inside my heart only grew.
9/10
Because the feeling felt like massive warmth + love, I didn’t know what else to do but go up to the front counter and tell them I wanted to take care of her lunch.
In my mind, I chalked it up to be the “Christmas Spirit” coming through me to do something nice for a stranger!…?
But before she got up to leave she looked at me and said with emotional eyes,
“Thank you so much 🥹”
“Merry Christmas!” I smiled at her.
“You know,” she said leaning into me, “It’s so serendipitous that you’d do that now…”
Her chin dropped trying to hide the tears that were quickly streaming down her cheeks.
“My husband passed away 16 months ago *today*. He died suddenly and I didn’t get to say goodbye to him. This was our favourite restaurant, we came here all the time. And today is the very first day I’ve had enough strength to come back here and eat since he died.”
I moved to her table to sit across from her as she spoke, tears now forming in my eyes.
10/10
“I’m so sorry to hear that…” and we shared a knowing look, full of emotion.
“You know, I don’t know what you believe…” I said to her, “But something very palpable moved me to do that for you today. And I think it was your husband…”
“Yeah. I know,” she said with a heartfelt smile looking into my eyes.
And behind her pain, I saw deep peace. She really did *know.*
“Thank you,” she said with a final smile. “Merry Christmas.”
She left Coral and I feeling completely overwhelmed, marvelling at how life + the universe works.
Whatever your beliefs, I hope that story inspires you to connect with the ones you love and to also follow your intuitive pulls. In my experience, they always lead to something important and beautiful.
Life is precious. Let’s love on each other hard this holiday season…and beyond ❤️