Life changed today. I met a lovely older woman in line at the pharmacy and I listened to her tell me some of her life story. I was there because I got a prescription for an antibiotic after I had to go to the dentist to get more work done unexpectedly.
The older woman, I wish I'd gotten her name, wanted to talk about her life, and I felt reserved at first, but then warmed up to the idea of listening to her, and it was fun. Oh, and this was divinely ordained too, because up at the counter I saw another woman who had once told me that she always listens to older women if they want to talk to her. But that other woman near the counter just went in and out of my vision quickly, and she didn't notice me. I guess it was a message from higher sources, and so as I was in line, I got to hear some of a story that a friendly stranger wanted to share.
She grew up in Pittsburgh. She's lived out here since the 1970s. Her husband passed away this year (maybe in July?) and she's going to move soon, and live in a mother-in-law apartment in a house with her daughter (and possibly her daughter's husband?) in Annapolis, Maryland. Her daughter works in some kind of capacity for the music industry and coordinates things for some musicians or something. And she knew Quincy Jones at some point, I think. So she comes out to Southern California a lot. She told me her father was a World War II veteran who worked for a steel company in Pittsburgh. Her father did some kind of work coordinating things, too. I said, oh so your daughter is doing something similar to your father, but also different. She said "Oh, I didn't think about that!"
Two things stand out that she told me.
One: None of the secretaries or receptionists at the steel company were women when her father worked there. There were only men. Two: All of the people in the highest positions looked alike. She said what, were they all from the same family or something? But they came to her father's funeral. He died at a very early age of a heart attack. She had brown skin and I imagined who her father might be, and what it was like for him to get that good company job. She talked about how her parents got a taste of what it was like to be rich and fly on a corporate jet, and it was like she was reliving her childhood. She said the pilot tipped the plane so her mother could get a good look at the Statue of Liberty in New York.
I really could almost cry, remembering this little conversation.
She said something about a copper building, too.
When I acted surprised about something she said, like about the male receptionists, she would lean forward and jab me and laugh. Like "Can you believe it? Who thought of that?" She did that with the male receptionists and she did that with the all those men in higher up positions looked the same.
We also made small talk about some other things. Her husband used to program things for her in her car. Sometimes she gets turned around when she tries to find places. She doesn't like driving at night so much. I told her about the new Trader Joe's that opened up nearby. She couldn't find the other one and ended up going to Walmart, but she didn't like Walmart as much, because she wanted to go to Trader Joe's. I thought she might like to try to visit the closer Trader Joe's now. But if she's going to move to Maryland soon, then maybe there won't be many more trips to Trader Joe's out here.
She really was the opposite of me because she was very chatty, but it was fun to be around her. Opposites attract sometimes.
I find myself wanting to know more about how she's doing now. But I'll probably never see her again. She was a good person to meet today. I did not get her name before the pharmacist called her, or I didn't remember to listen for it. But I feel my heart has been done good by her eagerness for a willing ear and some friendly conversation.
The last thing she said to me was, "To be continued!"
I kind of want to blow a kiss. Good humans are here on Earth! Thank you for being here.
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