Random strangers - friends for life

September 19-28, 2013 – I just spent one entire week at the beaches in North Carolina.  I have never been so calm and at peace.  It was such a wonderful week and my sister Lisa and her husband John were so gracious.  Here are some of the things I did:  All of these things were a first for me:  I visited North Carolina, I had oysters, I had steamed crab, I saw dolphins in the ocean, I sat on a balcony overlooking the ocean, I spent 7 days on vacation!, I had red drum (a super delicious fish), I had this burning cheese stuff that was cheese soaked in brandy and fried and then set on fire at your table yummy, I watched pelicans swooping down and grabbing their dinner, I went to antique shops, I had raw tuna, I had a mixed drink in a restaurant, I wore a bathing suit every day for 7 days!, I got a tan!, I walked about 5 miles per day!  It was wonderful and I would go back in a minute!

My week of vacation allotted me time to meet people that I have never known before. As I stood on the beach talking with a woman named Brenda who lost her husband 22 years ago... we laughed at our stories and how similar they were. I have her contact information because she runs a Celebrate Recovery group and that has always been a tug on my heart to do that. But as I talked with her, I began to tell her about random people I have met over the years and how they have become fabulous friends. As I walked and walked and walked all week long along the isolated beaches, I felt the tug to write the stories of each of these people. I have no idea what I will call this mini-book, but it will be something like "Random strangers - friends for life" ... and I will begin with Lynda Sikorski who I met in a waiting room of the hospital while we were both pregnant and spending the day getting our glucose tolerance tests. 24 years later, she is still my super wonderful friend. Lynda and I can laugh and talk on the phone as if we have never been apart! Naomi Smith, who I met online when we were both going to have surgery and wondered how to take care of our paraplegic/quadraplegic men and still recover. She has been a comfort to me when nobody else understood. Mary Wagner, who I met through Emilie's nurse at the hospital (Janet) who was from Rwanda. Mary lives in Alabama and has been a rock of light for me and my family when we needed prayer. She has just signed me up on the Rwanda team to sew items for fundraising for them! Like Naomi, I have never met Mary in person, but I feel as though I have known them all my life. Lynne Eged Hart, who I met through Mary Wagner! Ha ha ha... how about that for a twist of events! Lynne's husband just passed away from the ravages of MS... super fabulous friend, super strong woman! Wrong number Helen... an elderly woman who I met through the phone call to my house that was a wrong number. Her son was looking for her and worried about her. I offered to visit. At 85 years of age, Helen and I were best buddies for years and years as I took her to doctor visits, lunch, and shopping. She laughed better than anyone I ever had the pleasure of knowing. And then there was D Carole Stanley. There are no words to describe the friendship I had with this woman. I met her as I was visiting her mom in a nursing home. Her mom's name was Mona (I loved her so much). I was a volunteer. Mona was weeping one day and said her daughter was in the hospital and she couldn't go see her. I offered... I arrived at Carole's hospital bed and walked in to see a woman, tiny, frail and full of laughter sitting with oxygen and IV's. We talked... our friendship started. From then on, we sat together on her bed as we watched movies, had pizza, sing-alongs, and talked almost every day on the phone for years. She went home to be with Jesus a few weeks after Mark. I love that woman.

And these are just a few stories. I am going to start writing them down and make a small book about it. I think it's important to make an opportunity of every place you go. (Once I asked someone at a gas station as they were pumping gas at the pump next to mine if I could pray for them in any way. They started to cry and said that they were on the way to prison to visit their son... I cried too... and I prayed...) Every place, every moment, every person is an opportunity to make a difference. These people I have mentioned are just a few in my life that have blessed me incredibly.