Simple Things and Miracles

Yesterday I took the day off from work to take care of things that my mind has not been able to direct well. I needed to maintain that appointment with the credit union, see a doctor about the pain in my head that is not leaving, pay the utility bills that I completely forgot about and ended with me having no phone service. I needed to do all the things that a stressed and troubled mind, holding onto the thread of sanity forgets.



I started off by walking to the relatives to borrow their old jalopy, then I remembered that I had forgotten something very necessary (what that was? Well I’ve forgotten now) so I had to return to the house. Now I am running late and thank God when I call to relate my apologies to who was going to be my companion for the day, she too was running late. On my way to the house, I encountered a neighbour, whom I don’t know very well and as I wave a cheery hello, she rapidly flags me down. She says to me in her husky voice “I hear that you have to move soon?” “I think I have a solution for you.” “We will talk tonight.” I decided that I needed to go to the duty located at the furthest distance, not necessarily the most important duty, first. I get about half-way through this journey, decided to stop for gasoline and realized that my wallet could not be found in the new-fangled handbag, with no compartments and one gaping hole where I have to dig for everything; no call it a sack. So guess what? I am compelled to head back to the house again, to find that the wallet is on the chair where I had rested the sack. I supposed in my having to dig I forgot to put it back. My companion soothes my distress at being so late, and so stupid, by telling me that perhaps these incidents happened for a reason; perhaps to avoid us meeting with negativity.

So here we go again, put the transmission in ‘D’ and we’re off bouncing along the roads of Trinidad, some smooth, most rutted in places (I turn the wheel left, I turn the wheel right to avoid first one then another pothole) with undulations in other places, catching up on years of separation through each other’s stories, me silently marvelling at this woman who has grown so mellow, so wise: no longer the brash young woman fighting to make her mark in the world but a mature woman who has found her space and overall, seems to like her life and we drive into a huge traffic jam that extends our journey by 90 minutes of crawl! Suffice to say that all the many things on my list of things to do did not get done, including the most important of seeing the doctor and getting the blood test done!

That night as sleep was about to usurp itself my neighbour calls. She tells me that she has put the first month’s rent on a space for me since she knows I want to stay in the neighbourhood. What? I am astonished as I see God in action! This woman who only knows of my story from her good friend has befriended me in a most profound way. I do not even know her name! Our conversations have been limited to every day greetings and from time to time delighted surprise when she returns to Trinidad after her stints with her daughter in the United States of America. WoW, I had just been telling God that often I feel as if I am going it alone and here now, He tells me that it is not so. I explained that distant relatives have offered me temporary space which would allow me to save some funds. She is delighted that a solution has been found and we close off the night with our smiles and good-byes.


Was my day good? In contemplation I think my concept of good means excitement, no pain, joy, a high, so to speak. No, the day was not like that yet, it was good. My life is really made up of little inconsequential acts some of which become my miracles and yesterday had a couple.