My friend recently posted a picture of a couple of lids. She’d gone through her cabinets, couldn’t find the matching pans, and posted them on her Facebook page as free for the taking. I’m sure most people would have just … Continue reading
This was the 3rd morning in a row I’d woken up wanting pancakes. This was also the 3rd morning in a row I woke up without a will to create said pancakes. So, I decided Bella, Skylar, and I were going to walk the few blocks to Denny’s so I could go ahead and quench my craving. Along the way, Bella was not listening and feeling pretty grumpy. Skylar was content in his stroller. When we got to the restaurant and got seated, the tables turned, so to speak. Skylar almost immediately started hollering. Bella’s mood improved significantly, but she was jibber-jabbering away and wanting to play tic-tac-toe. Had I had an extra set of eyes, ears, and hands, that would have been awesome… Before we left the house, Skylar had just awoken from a nap and nursed for a few minutes. He kept getting distracted, so it was a bit of a bust. 😉 (I like puns…) I brought pureed baby food for him to eat while we munched on our lunch. I got it out, and he chowed down. We gave the waitress our order, and I tried my best to please both babies. After he ate about 4 ounces of baby food, he was unhappy. I took him out of the stroller, allowed him to play with different objects that wouldn’t choke him, poison him, or poke his eyes out. Nope. Huh-uh. He didn’t want any of that. A lady from a nearby table kept glancing behind her to check out to see what the commotion was all about. I got boxes almost immediately after our meal was served. I didn’t foresee our meal going smoothly. I was a bit overwhelmed with the swirling energies and just assumed it’d be easier to take our late lunch home – to partake in peace – where I wouldn’t stress the fellow consumers by our loud, boisterous activities or where I could take a break and lay the baby down if I needed to. I had forgotten the baby’s bottle. Even though we were sitting in a back corner almost in private, I still felt a little uncomfortable with the thought of nursing in a family restaurant. I shouldn’t have, but that’s what I was feeling. I think the lady who was catercorner to us overheard me say, “What’s your deal?” to my crying baby, so she assumed the worst… I dunno. Anywho, I ended up nursing fussy Skylar, anyway. He still wasn’t happy. We switched positions over and over again. Finally he was a little more satiated. By this point, I had snuck in a bite here and a bite there, and even though the meal had been a bit rough for me, I no longer felt the need to quickly rush out of the diner. I stood up to fasten the baby carrier in place. I put Skylar into position, and I wore him during the rest of my meal. He soon gave up on his unhappiness, nursed to his content, and then passed completely out. Right before his nap, in between Skylar’s tandem nursing and fussing, a different lady who was at a table kind of close by sought to get my attention. She was probably in her 60s, had long blondish hair, glasses, and an overall comfortable look about her. She was enjoying her meal with her lover. She kept giving me encouragement for nursing. I smiled in response. When her meal was finished, she came over and told me what a good mom I was, gesturing to the nursing baby held papoose style. She just kept sincerely looking at me ~ basically telling me how lovely we were. She looked to Bella and told her she was beautiful. She told me the same. She told Bella she loved her. She told me she loved me. She told me I was a good mother, and that it was hard being in public with fussy babies. Before she left, she said “God bless you.”. I sat there almost completely speechless. With tears streaming down my face, this woman had turned my overwhelmed emotions into pure gratitude. We wished her well and returned her love, and then she departed. A few minutes later, the hostess came over to tell me the lovely couple had paid for our meal. Tears, once again, sprang from my eyes. Bella and I “Paid It Forward” in our own way, but I don’t want this blog to turn into an acknowledgement for something we did, but rather how the grace of a complete stranger’s love turned my day around. Thank you, you wonderful woman, for shining your light so strong and leaving a beautiful memory for me and my daughter to look back on. Your heartfelt generosity will be felt by many. I pray this message helps others to both aspire and inspire.
I love you, Earth Angel. ♥
mirandarosevineyard 