We had all slept a little later than expected. I didn’t think the kids would sleep until 7 in a hotel room but to our surprise they had. We lazily walked over to the restaurant to eat before leaving on our long days journey across Idaho, Utah and into Wyoming. We were seated in our booth and ordered our food. The kids had been doing so great, just the normal kicking the seat occasionally, a few beats on the table with the silverware before they were taken away. I wasn’t feeling especially on my game from being sick, not sleeping well, and hadn’t had my coffee yet. Nothing kicks into gear for me until that happens. And lets just be honest, I wasn’t expecting my kids to act perfectly or to look like the perfect family that morning, I didn’t know anyone in that restaurant and would soon drive away if some incident with a fit throwing child did ensue. Admit it, we all do it sometimes, want our families to look good so others are impressed. Or maybe you don’t, but it’s an ugly truth about me.
We were almost done with our meal and a gentleman walked over to our table and introduced himself. He said he had been watching us and just wanted us to know that he liked what he saw. He was a single man, no kids, and just retired from the military. He said he hoped to have a nice family like ours one day. It was honestly one of the sweetest gestures and compliments ever (and not because he was complimenting our superb parenting skills (he really wasn’t) but because he saw the blessing of having a family). He was so kind and genuine and didn’t have to walk over to our table but did.
I walked away from there with yet another reminder of how blessed I am to have my family. We aren’t perfect and never will be but we are so blessed. It’s so crazy how a one minute interaction with a stranger can be so life giving. I’ll often think of Jeffrey and pray that he does indeed have a family one day.
What about you? Have you ever been blessed by a stranger like that? Or have you ever walked across the room to bless a stranger? It makes me want to do it more often when I have the chance.
I love a random kind word! Last month when I was very big with Nora, Peter and I took the kids to an early breakfast. When we got our check, we were surprised to find that a couple had paid $20 towards our bill because they saw me waddling Addie to the bathroom and thought we were cute. Made my day!