Fuzzy-brown-gentle-spirit-lady

Today I met a woman…well, actually, I encountered a woman that had a profound effect on me. I don’t understand the full significance of our crossing and I suspect I never will.

I was sitting in the airport in Omaha waiting for my plane to depart when I noticed this woman walking with a younger woman, who appeared to be her daughter. She caught my eye because she was wearing a fuzzy brown jacket and a matching fuzzy brown hat—much like those fuzzy socks that are so soft that you don’t want to put them on your feet but would rather stroke them across your face. She kept my gaze though, because there was a gentleness of spirit that I could “see” emanating from her. I really do not have the words to explain it. The best I can come up with is that my energy could “see” her energy.

The flight from Omaha to Chicago was relatively uneventful. As I boarded I was amused by the scene. Flying Southwest, I could select my seat wherever I could find one that was open. On this occasion, I was near the end of boarding—I guess because I was one of the slackers that checked-in AT the airport instead of on-line. As I waited for the line of passengers ahead of me to load their carry-on bags and select their seats, I looked at the rows of people who were seated and staring straight ahead. Except for the rare occasion where 3 people were traveling together, just about every row was occupied by two people separated by an empty seat. They were all concentrating SO HARD on NOT making eye-contact that it made me laugh aloud. If they DARED recognize my presence I just might want to sit beside them thwarting their expectations of a flight free of the struggle to share an armrest with a stranger. I was able to find an aisle seat in the 19th row, where I too had an empty seat beside me. One crossword, two Sudoku puzzles and a wind-whipped landing later, we were on the ground in Chicago.

While waiting for my turn to exit the plane, I realized that the fuzzy-brown-gentle-spirit lady had been seated between her husband and her daughter across the aisle a row back. Her husband and I were making small talk about the landing, the wind, the weather, and such. In this conversation I learned that they would be on the same flight as I would to North Carolina, prompting the polite inquisition of the destination and purpose of travel. She had made the perilous drive from Mitchell, SD to Omaha, NE the night before. The wind had been ferocious and icy conditions of I29 reportedly make a mockery of the “scary” landing we had just experienced. She was on her way to Duke University to see a specialist about, what they believed to be, a brain tumor. They had been to Mayo Clinic and another place I don’t recall (somewhere in New York???) where the approaches had been modeled after discoveries that had been made at Duke. They were to meet with the same doctor who had provided care to the late Ted Kennedy. Through this whole conversation, she said practically nothing. Her eyes met mine a few times and she shared a sweet smile, but she did not join the conversation but to say “Thank you” when I expressed my hopes that they would find what they were seeking. Before the conversation ended, she stepped into the aisle and was standing directly beside me as I was turned speaking to her husband who was directly behind her. In that proximity, I could FEEL the gentleness of her energy. I used EVERY social grace I had to stop myself from reaching out to touch her. I so badly wanted to share my energy with her, perhaps in some fanciful notion that somehow my energy would strengthen hers and help her physical body return to fullness. I was able to stop myself, and, I would assume, spare her the embarrassment of being groped by a complete stranger.

As I walked into Midway Airport, and parted ways with her and her traveling companions, I ventured to find a sandwich. I could not get her out of my mind. When I say that, I am not referring to “thinking” about her, I’m talking about something deeper. Despite my efforts to direct my attention to the task at hand, my spirit would not let her go. “She needs to hear from you. You have something important to share. You need to give voice to this energy.” The badgering I was getting from within would not relent, so I submitted. I walked the entire terminal, found a greeting card and a bookmark, picked up a sandwich and then took a seat near my gate.
There was not enough room to go into detail about why a complete stranger was compelled to write her a card, which is probably just as well. The words that needed to be shared flowed freely as I tried desperately not to impede the process. I know what was expressed fell short of what was intended, but it was the best I could do.

At this point, I was still bewildered by this whole experience, wondering exactly WHEN do you walk up to a stranger and hand them a greeting card? If I did it too soon, I would provide that awkward space where they would have time to acknowledge my action and respond. They would have to deal with the discomfort of having that space staring at them when they might not know how or even care to respond to such weirdness. I decided to let them board before me, hand it to her as I boarded, and sit further back in the plane so that they would deplane before I did. I knew that we would likely meet up again at baggage claim, but I was not willing to take the chance that I would miss the opportunity to give her the card.

I’m still trying to make sense of this. What I get from a soul-level is that I needed to get out of the way and let the divine use me at that moment in time. If I am truly seeking to transform from 3 to 1, then I figure I had better practice integrating mind, body, and spirit instead of compartmentalizing them.

As I pulled the bookmark out of my bag, the tassel of it had come apart. At first I was disappointed, but then I decided that, perhaps I should not be so egotistical about this whole thing. Perhaps the Divine was using HER to speak to ME? I decided to keep it for myself so that I would have a reminder of my experience of her energy. As I boarded the flight to Raleigh/Durham I found where they were seated. She was at the window, her husband was in the center, and her daughter was in a different row or across the aisle, I really don’t know. As I reached out to hand the card to her, she was too far away, so I gently waved it in front of her husband and, with a surprised look, he took it from me. I am actually sitting on the flight right now logging this story in a word document so I can post it later. Where she takes what I expressed to her in the card is up to her. I have faith that wherever it goes, it will serve its purpose.