Yesterday had God written all over it. As we saw in yesterday’s post, it was the one year anniversary of my Bohemian life on the road. TOW-Wanda and I have logged thousands of miles as I’ve navigated the hollows of my heart. I awoke yesterday and set out to spend the day with an attitude of gratitude.
I drove across the Appalachian mountains under wispy thin clouds. The trees are preparing for their annual autumn review with the same anxious trepidation of a new bride waiting to step out in her wedding finery. The air was hushed with the anticipation of the riot of color about to be splashed over these ancient hills. As I navigated the kiss-me-Kate turns, I listened to Yo Yo Ma’s “Unaccompanied Cello”. That particular album evokes fall for me. Classical music is the backdrop for many autumn trips to Explore Bookseller in Aspen for my usual stack of winter reading material. I hear the lonesome strains of those strings and my mind takes me to walks over crunchy leaf covered sidewalks, cool crisp air, mugs of steaming cider, flannel shirts, long denim skirts, warm leather boots…pumpkins on the doorsteps. Yo Yo Ma breathes fall’s goodness into me.
I was driving through Elkins, WV…home of a wonderful Liberal Arts College…Davis & Elkins. It is a revived town listed as one of the top 100 art towns in the country. I love Elkins. As I drove through, I felt the now familiar hand of Spirit guiding me. I must have pulled over four times till I finally found what He wanted me to see. Hiawatha. A 15′ statue in front of a souvenir shop I’ve blithely driven by no less than 100 times in the 37 years they’ve been open. I dutifully stopped the car and went in.
She was a tiny thing, standing behind the counter beckoning me in with a warm hello. “Can I help you?” What do you say in a case like this? “Nah, hang on…you’re about to have a God moment”? No…these things have to play themselves out in their own way. I’m just the messenger.
After moseying around the shop a bit, I found myself standing in front of her telling her the story of losing Mr. Virgo. She reacted as many do…gasp, hand to mouth, eyes widen. And this time, as so often happens, tears began to course down her face. She quietly told me this week marks two years since…wait for it…her husband dropped dead of a heart attack right in front of her. Stunned silence for only a moment before I found my way around the counter and took her into my embrace. We are sisters of a different sort.
We both have scars on our hearts. We wear a secret code only others on this particular path understand. We are kindred spirits…both members of a club we did not ask to join. It was God who led me to her to share that moment of grief together in a souvenir store in Small Town America. I had nothing more important to do than to stand in that store for an hour and minister to this woman who is feeling that same sense of dread and pain that I went through six months ago as I approached the second Angelversary of my own husband’s death.
God works in mysterious ways. One of the most profound effects of this journey has been the opening of my heart, my mind, my ears to His voice. I go where He tells me. And yesterday, He touched two lives by bring our souls together for comfort. It was a beautiful day. It was God’s day.
❤️
“My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the meditation of my heart will give you understanding.”
Psalm 49:3