It's The Simple Things

I got up on the right side of the bed this morning, but quickly jumped to the wrong side when our coffee maker wasn’t working!  Come on, Sunday morning and no coffee to be had!  Then to make matters worse, discovered my cell phone had gone completely dead!  What’s a girl to do but make an appointment at the Genius Bar (at least give me credit for knowing what that is) and look forward to the rigors of a visit to an Apple Store.

There you have it, a Sunday morning with no coffee and no cell phone, could life get much worse?!  Ah, but wait a minute, Bill and I could walk Spud up to Panera for a cup of coffee and a bagel – that would be a great alternative!  I’m learning how to be a problem solver.

 So I’m placing my order, when I notice a teenager that looks familiar.  Yes, I recognize him; he’s a former student.  I tentatively ask if he is who I think he is, and he gets this big smile on his face, which says I haven’t made a completely embarrassing mistake!  Now my first reaction is always to give a hug, but I know for most teenagers that is totally uncool, so I extended my hand instead.  To my delightful surprise, he gave me a big hug and said “Hi Mrs. Wawrychuk”.  I chatted with him and his father for a couple of minutes, caught up on the life of this now 9^th grader and left with my coffee and bagel in the best mood.  Remembering this young man as a little boy in my second grade classroom, not only brought back so many memories, but lifted my spirits as well. 

We headed back home, me feeling much less oppressed than when I set out! While going down our street, we passed a couple walking their two dogs.  The woman stopped me and asked if I was Mrs. Wawrychuk.  When I responded yes, she said,  “Do you remember my daughter ____________?  She was in your second grade class and she still talks about you as her favorite teacher” Of course I remembered this little girl, who was in the same class as the boy I had just seen at Panera!  

Isn’t that just amazing?  Seven years later two kids come along and out of the blue change my mindset from “Oh, woe is me; to ain’t life grand?’  And if the coffeemaker had been working, I would have missed the whole experience.

It’s the simple things!