Stranger at the Bus Stop

It's freezing cold, that was the first thought in Serena's head, as she started walking to bus stop on a Monday morning to go work at the preschool. It's still 6.19 am, and there's 10 minutes left before her bus arrives. So she sat on the bench at the bus stop, pulled out her little black book and started reading the list of goals and dreams she has been wanting to manifest for this year. So far everything she has been written on it has come true. A year ago she was hoping to finish her child care diploma, and dreaming about working with children. Now she is doing it, she thought with a happy smile. These days Serena is onto manifesting her other dreams. Since she moved away from the small town she grew up in a year ago, she has been missing her family and friends like crazy. One of the new goals she wants to manifest has been a meaningful new friendship, where she can be her self completely.

As she was looking down at her little black note book, and wondering to herself how to make her dream come to reality she heard a rustling sound from the other side of the bench. She lifted her head and turned to see a woman possibly in her eighties sitting on the other side of the bench. Serena offered her a polite smile, and got up as her bus approached and signaled to the old woman to get on the bus before her, to which the old woman shook her head "no". "Doesn't she know this is the only bus that stops at this bus stop" , Serena thought to her self as she got on the bus.

It was a busy day for Serena at work. So many new toddlers arriving at her class. It was like falling in love at first sight for her with them. As rewarding as that sounds it was quite a challenge to get them all settled in after their parents dropped them off at the preschool. In all this excitement the memory of the charming old woman she met at the bus stop completely faded from her mind.

Next day morning as she was waiting for bus, she thought "why does it has to be this cold in winter" and decided to pull out her little black book and write down another goal for her "get a car asap". For that she needs money, of course she has some savings. But she would rather if life can show her how magical it can be by providing her what she needs in some awe inspiring way. As she was mulling over buying a car, she saw the same old woman she saw yesterday walking toward the bus stop. She sits down at the opposite end of Serena. As Serena looked her and smiled, older woman started to talk mile a minute about everything from weather, to her bad hip to her late husband, leaving Serena quite bewildered. Serena decided not be rude and interrupt, so she nodded and smiled. However as the bus approached, she felt compelled point out to the older woman that this is only bus that comes to this stop. For that older woman replied, "oh, I am not taking the bus girl, I just come here to sit and watch people".

Why someone would want to wake up in a cold winter day this early, sit at a bus stop, let alone to watch strangers walk by is quite perplexing to Serena at 19. Yet she understood what it is like to feel alone to some extent. After all manifesting new friends happen to be one her goals, even though this old woman probably wasn't the image she had in her mind when she thought of new friends.

Next day morning , the old woman introduced herself as Gladys to Serena. For rest of the week she would see Gladys at the bus stop. To Serena, Gladys seemed like someone who is painfully lonely, and in need of a friend far more than she ever was. So on Friday morning as they were chatting at the bus top Serena asked her if she wants to go for a coffee in the evening to which Gladys agreed wholeheartedly. As the days turned to weeks and months, they became fast friends. For Gladys, she found herself a headstrong grand daughter who adopted her as her surrogate family. For Serena, Gladys offered the meaningful friendship she was searching for. They would go for long walks, go to coffee shops, invite each other for dinners and talk to each other about everything and nothing. Gladys would tell Serena about the career she had as a nurse, how she loved taking care of her patients, how much she loved travelling with her late husband, and how she has been volunteering with odd charities to help to fill the void in her life. Sometimes she would speak about her estranged son, with so much longing in her voice that it breaks Serena's heart to hear it. So one day after visiting with Gladys Serena decided to write down an another request to the universe in her little black note book. "Please let Gladys and her son find their way to each other, so she won't feel so alone and sad".

It was winter when she first met Gladys at the bus stop at that fateful Monday morning. Now it's almost summer. As it was Friday she was planing to go meet Gladys at a coffee shop. She has been explaining to Gladys for the past few months how she is going to buy a car and she is going to take Gladys for long rides around the city to which old woman always nods with a amused smile. However when she arrived at the coffee shop, Gladys was already there waiting for with some exciting news of her own. Her estranged son who lives in U.S. finally contacted her! So what was behind the sudden change of his mind, he had become a parent himself, which made him see his mother in a more forgiving light. As the time went by Gladys became happier and this dynamic person who is passionate about life and living right before Serena's eyes, and she couldn't be happier for Gladys.

So one evening as Serena was walking to her friend's house for dinner she was contemplating about making a serious offer to one of the cars she has been looking at previous day at the dealership. By the time she got Gladys' s place she helped the old woman with dinner preparation and chatted away about children at her preschool. However Gladys seems oddly quiet to her. After the meal Serena decided to ask her if everything is okay, to which Gladys seems to struggle with her words. After a long minute she asked Serena to come sit with her at the couch.

"Serena, there's something I need to tell you, my son wants me come live with him and his family in U.S."

Serena knew in her heart this is something she wanted for Gladys, even though she is going to miss her friend so very much. She told Gladys that as well, how much she wanted to Gladys to unite with her son, for them to be together. Gladys wanted Serena to know she came into Gladys's life when she was at her lowest, she didn't have a friend, her son didn't want anything to do with her, she was sad and miserable. Serena breathed life in to her life, and gave reason to march on, so for that she is eternally grateful.

"Is this the last time I see you?" Serena asked Gladys through her sobs, to which Gladys replied "no my sweet, I want you to come visit me, and we are still going to talk to each other all the time". As she said this she gave Serena what looked like an envelope, which she pushed in to her pant pocket clumsily. They spend hours chatting to each other about the turns their lives have taken. As Serena bid goodnight to Gladys that evening she pondered how this amazing and kind human being changed her perspective on what friendships suppose to be.

Later that night as she prepared for the bed, she suddenly remembered the envelope Gladys gave her that evening. She was sure it's farewell note and she wasn't sure if she could bring her self to look at it now. Yet she decided to muster up all the courage she had left and tear open the envelope. What she saw inside left her astonished. It was a check for 20,000 dollars, with a note attached it saying "What you gave me was priceless little girl, this is just a small token of love, do whatever you like with it". As she was gazing at the note through her tears she couldn't help but wonder at the magical way universe has delivered every desire she has written down in her little black book.