Everyday Miracles
Boarding a jam-packed flight to Denver, I gratefully sat down in the aisle seat. By the window, an older woman was reading. I plopped my big straw hat on the empty seat between us while waiting for all the passengers to board. Much to my surprise no one claimed the middle seat. A small miracle on a crowded flight… now I didn’t have to wrangle with the hat on my lap the entire flight!
Several hours passed pleasantly reading my book club’s recent pick – Raising Hare. Hearing “excuse me”, I jumped up out of my seat, while she said, “best to go when it’s not crowded.” Good idea, I thought and followed her.
Upon return to our respective seats, we struck up a conversation. She was a widow from the Cape heading to her family’s cabin in the wilds of Montana. We chatted pleasantly about life, travel, cancer and life’s funny turns.
Abruptly she pointed to the United Airlines map on her screen, a finger on Krasnoyarsk, a city in the middle of Siberia. “I went there with my husband to pick up our daughter.” She went on to describe the town. One side of town was brand new gray five to six story buildings that had modern heating. And the other side of town were old wooden houses heated only by a woodstove. The modern buildings were very warm on the first floor but got progressively colder as you traveled up each flight.
After a long pause, she continued, “we picked up our daughter from an orphanage. It was chilly but the woman taking care of her was very nice.” We talked a bit about Russian orphanages. Then I asked did your daughter ever want to meet her birth mother? “No! she exclaimed. We would never let her. It isn’t safe. Her mother was an addict who abused her. My daughter was under weight, had a deviated septum and several fetal syndromes from the alcohol and drugs.” Wow, that must have been very challenging.
She looked me in the eye and replied, “I’m a nurse who specialized in childhood trauma.” Stunned, I said, A little abused baby in Russia who needed a loving home attracted a mother who specializes in trauma?! That is nothing short of a miracle! Her heart - her love found you!!
The nurse’s eyes filled up with tears. “Yes, it was a miracle. I helped her through the physical issues, learning disabilities and emotional trauma. She has a graduate degree now. “
I was immediately reminded of a poem that I wrote several years ago - Ways Unknown.
Love breathes
Love feeds
In ways unknown
So seeds are sown
Far and near
Urging love
To blossom here
Love creates miracles every day. Some are little and some are big.