The Goods

Wednesday, September 29, was a day on which most of us had a chance to enjoy another day on this planet.

(Captain Planet, he's our hero...he's gonna take pollution down to zero!)

A wonderful woman, named Tiger, met a wonderful man in the parking lot of Home Depot. Tiger told the stranger that she loved his truck. He was so kind that he even decided to give her a tour of his awesome truck!

Karla was proud of herself for not being put in Facebook jail! She often uploads funny, yet brutally honest, posts on Facebook about relationships, and the trials and tribulations of relationships. With multiple, daily posts, Karla sometimes walks the thin line between being sent to virtual jail and staying out of it. Either way, her straight-forward relationship advice is informative and a conversation starter. So often, people keep secrets tucked deep inside their minds. So often, people are afraid to have difficult conversations. We live in a world where a lot of us rather talk ABOUT people instead of talking TO people. Talking ABOUT others stirs up gossip and hurt while talking TO people can help us heal.

Sherri, unfortunately, needed to visit Urgent Care. On the bright side, she witnessed a refreshing interaction between two ladies. One lady was walking out of her appointment, and the other lady was sitting on a bench, waiting. The walking lady said, in a bright and cheerful voice, that the lady sitting on the bench looked stunning... like a goddess in her blue t-shirt maxi dress. That short interaction between three souls, lit up four hearts: the two women who spoke to each other, Sherri...

and yours!

Holly lives in Arizona while her, beloved, adult children live in California. Being far away from your family can sometimes be difficult to handle. Thankfully, a sweet soul actually bought airplane tickets for Holly so she can go to California to spend Christmas AND the New Year's holiday with her kids!!! That is certainly a blessing. Holly is blessed with a priceless gift, and the giver is blessed with a happy heart.

To close out the day, a beautiful woman, named Endiana, has helped arrange a birthday celebration for none other than yours truly! My birthday is on October 3, and I will be celebrating my 37th year on Earth.

I will try to make a long story into a short one. I moved to Arizona from Indiana about 15 years ago. I had just given birth to my first child and succumbed to postpartum depression. I was, mentally, in a bad position. My mental, and emotional, state and my horrible actions wrecked havoc on my marriage and my sweet husband - who was madly in love with me. I spent many nights out with other young girls who didn't care about what I was doing, and they didn't feel the need to address it with me. (Perhaps they talked ABOUT me, but never TO me.)

Eventually, around the birth of my third child, I decided to try to get my life together. I stopped partying like I was, and I cut off contact with all the "friends" that I had so I wouldn't be tempted to fall back into that old, dangerous and selfish, lifestyle. I began working so much that I didn't have time for a social life. It worked to keep me, mostly, out of trouble. That child of mine is now, almost, 11 years old. I haven't had any close friends for the past 11 to 12 years.

That was, until this past January on a Saturday morning, when I got a text message from one of my neighbors saying that there was a Jamaican lady going around the neighborhood, knocking on doors, looking for the owner of a chicken that had, literally, jumped into her backyard. We DID have a lot of chickens at the time, but we hadn't noticed that one was missing. Well, this sweet lady was driving around the neighborhood with a chicken on her lap, trying to return it to the rightful owner! Three days prior, this chicken had jumped over the wall in our backyard, crossed the street, and jumped over the wall of this lady's house! Her son had grown to love the chicken, so my husband told her that they could keep it. We gave her some chicken feed to help her feed it until she had a chance to buy some more food.

Before this neighbor from across the street left with her new chicken, she gave me a goody bag full of Avon samples and her business card...showing her name: Endiana. It's like INDIANA, but spelled with an E! I've never met anyone with that name. It's definitely not common. I couldn't stop thinking about how crazy it all was. It was crazy how our chicken went through such a "Homeward Bound" type of journey to get to her house. It was crazy how her name is WHERE I'M FROM. Then, about a week or two later, I was reading a post about cupcakes in a local Facebook group when I was reading the comments of some lady with a funny name. I leaned in closer and realized that it wasn't really a "funny" name, but it was just an uncommon name. IT WAS ENDIANA! I wrote to her to say hello (and to remind her that I was the lady with the chickens), and she invited me to her birthday party that week!

Her birthday party was so fun and so diverse! There were black people, white people, African people, Jamaican people, city folk, and country folk. The even greater aspect of having such a diverse group of people together, was that we all got a chance to learn about each other. We spoke about what life was like for us where we were from. We listened to each other. We spoke about our personal experiences in moving from one place to another. We spoke about civil rights, history, and the present. I can't speak for everyone, but my heart was certainly filled up that night.

Ever since that birthday party, Miss Endiana has been actively seeking out other moms in our area who are close to our age in hopes of expanding our friend group. This group of like-minded women has come together to celebrate each other in our victories and to encourage each other when we're struggling.

So, now we know why the chicken crossed the road!

To bring two souls together!

And to brighten your day!