PAUSE
I need to preface this and anything else I might ever write with the following:
My heartfelt hope is that I'm not relaying stories only about me, but stories that are about all of us. There are writings you connect with and some you don't. But I'd love to think mostly they reach you in a way that would encourage your heart and uplift your spirit. In a nutshell, it's not about Me Me Me...it's about Us Us Us. I love you and I love us!
Pat offered to return an item to Walmart today. I hesitated but said thanks but I'll go. As I parked and begin my descent into the Walmart abyss( just kidding or maybe I'm not), I noticed an elderly woman driving one of those battery powered shopping carts. Its basket was full with a load of ferns and flowers. She stopped and opened the hatchback of her little car, obviously preparing to unload. As she stood and walked to open the hatch, one couldn't help but notice how severely she was hunched over. Even so, she seemed capable enough and I figured if she bought the items, she was able to load them. Do I stop to offer help? Do I not? After a few steps to move on toward the store, I caught myself. Geez, Beth, what's your rush? Take a pause and just stop. So I did. She was as cute and spunky as could be. And she let me help. She had cardboard boxes of all sizes to set the plants into to keep her car tidy. We got the three ferns situated. Next, I would hand off a few begonias and marigolds and she would place them in the boxes. She told me she was placing them around the grave of her cat who had just died. This gripped my heart immediately. Animals are a gigantic soft spot for me and I still tear up over my Louie who died just last summer. We hugged and proceeded to share our love of animals, the circumstances surrounding the death of her cat, and more.
I can't recall exactly what detail she was sharing when she said something like, "I think bb will like them." Did I hear correctly? "What did you say? Your cat was named bb?? That's my name! When I asked how she spelled the cat's name, she said, "BeBe." I told her my grandma name is BB! We were both stunned. What a privilege it was today to assist the cutest 85 year old cat loving lady as she loaded her BeBe's grave flowers. How about that?!? And I almost missed it.
Her name is Jackie. We exchanged phone numbers and hugged again with even a kiss for each other on the cheek. I'm actually weepy at the moment thinking of the sweet encounter I could have missed had I not paused.
We have a little cup that sits by our bathroom sink. It says "PAUSE." (Melinda Mcintire if you are out there and read this.... I love that cup and always think of you!) And as I type, I'm looking at a simple begonia plant that our friend Keith gave me. I think I will plant the begonia in the PAUSE cup to honor BeBe and Jackie. Because of a simple and sweet encounter in the Walmart parking lot, today my cup runneth over....with a pretty little begonia.
