The Angel On My Doorstep

I must have done something right.

I have been on an emotional roller coaster the past two days. I have had a housefull of people for Little Man's birthday, and now that everyone has gone it has felt very empty. Very lonely.

I know one of the keys to my being a good parent is to get enough sleep. I do not handle things well when I am tired. The past two nights have been rough. Neither child has slept well, and so neither have we. Combine this with suddenly having no grandparents around to keep the kiddos entertained and that makes for a bad mix.

I skipped out on my Tuesday playgroup today. I got bad news in an email, the kids have faucets for noses, and in all honesty--I just could not face getting everything together to go to the park for our weekly playgroup. I called the girl I normally walk with and told her that it was just not happening this morning, but to tell the other moms hello.

Here is where my karma train came in. Normally, I feel it runs my ass over. Today, it made a delivery.

My cell phone rang. It was a friend I have been missing terribly. She has recently returned to school, and I have been hesitant to call her until she gets more firmly settled in. I had just been thinking of calling her, when she called me. We joked about our psychic ability, and then I told her: "I just feel like you are going to knock on my door and be here."

And there was a knock on my door.

I kid you not. No blog-bullshitting around. There really was a knock on my door at that precise moment.

And nobody knocks on our door. I mean NOBODY. We live in a very small town (three stoplights) and in a fairly deserted townhouse complex. Unless I am expecting someone, no one ever comes by.

Still on the phone with my friend, I asked her if she were actually on my doorstep. She laughed and said it was not her. But I could see a woman standing outside my door.

I opened the door, and it was the girl I normally walk with. And she had a Starbucks latte for me. She told me that she did not want me to miss out on our weekly coffee.

Like a dumbass, I burst into tears. She told me she worried about me sometimes, and that she just wanted to come by and bring me the coffee.

Damn. It brings tears to my eyes just to type this. I have done this for other people over the years, but no one has ever done this for me. Not ever.

So on a morning when I felt so sad and so alone, the universe sent two angels to me to remind me that I was loved.

The next time I feel cynical about the women in my life, may I remember these acts of kindness.