Feb. 4, 2010 You will be visited by...

Do you believe in coincidences? Today, perhaps by serendipity, I stumbled upon three living, breathing people who unknowingly took me down an odd little path of enlightenment. Am I any wiser or kinder for the encounters? Not sure, but they did bless me with the chance to focus on something other than meandering deposition testimony and overwhelming dejection felt upon entering a certain Dr.'s office. Huzzah!

The day started out like most- trying to dodge a dog who becomes more lovey dovey than usual the second I put on black anything. Went to work, left for a Dr. appt. The visit to the Dr.'s office was Not Fun, but I did meet a lovely woman who had married her husband right before seeing him off to a war zone. This would be my "living person of days past". Her eyes teared up when talking about many of the same frustrations I had encountered seven years ago, and for a brief moment it felt like I was looking in a window long since left behind. I let her talk without the "oh you poor thing" I had so despised (and still do) and it was, well, cathartic. For both of us.

Next up in today's cast of characters is a fellow who also spent time in Southeast Asia, albeit a little more than 30 years ago under much different circumstances. He co-runs an antique store in the adjoining small town I fled to in an effort to erase lingering ill feelings about my procedure. I really, really hate needles. Anyway, we spent some time talking about our home state and humanity in general, two things I've had on my mind quite a bit over the last few months. His grandmother was a wickedly devious pirate in Key West and he has a very long ponytail, so I'm not so sure how well he really fits as the "living person of days present", but to be faithful to the timeline, here he falls.

My mind split between imagining a little old lady luring cargo ships onto sandbars by flicking off the lighthouse switch and mulling over a gorgeous 40's post-Bakelite radio, I stepped into the shop next door. Behold the "living person of days yet to come", a nattily dressed lady with a shock of thick gray hair. The conversation started with the joys and pains of friends and evolved into exotic travels. She has lived around the world and was given the once-in-a-lifetime compliment of almost being sold for fifty camels. Even taking her exquisite taste in vintage bags aside, she is what I hope to be in thirty years. She's comfortable and generally amused with her surroundings, happily married and still up for an adventure.

Maybe I'll wake up in the morning and buy a turkey, but it is far more likely that I will wake up and realize that I am one.