I had the strangest thing happen to me this morning. I was getting ready for work when my doorbell rang. That in itself was odd, because no one ever just drops over, except my neighbor. And even she usually texts me first. So I went to the door thinking it was her and pulled back the curtain and there was this smartly dressed little old lady standing there. I thought maybe she was a volunteer canvasser so was a little hesitant. I opened the door and she introduced herself with her full name and said she just moved to Peterborough and today decided to take a drive to Lindsay. Something she has wanted to do for a long time. She told me her grandparents used to live in my house and she just had a desire to see it. She really intended to just drive by and then thought she would just see if someone was home. I decided that I had a few minutes and if she wanted to come in and take a look, I would be okay with that. When she took a peak at my stairway she said with tears in her eyes, that she spent many times just sitting on those stairs, either playing or waiting for dinner. So I invited her to take a little tour of the living and dining rooms. She teared up again when she saw that the stained glass windows were still there. I live in a century old house and she had shared with me that she is 86 years old. So we are talking at least 80 years ago. In the few minutes that she spent with me she told me about so many memories she had of her grandparents but particularly of her grandmother - The baking, the dinners, the water pump she helped her grandmother with, and so much more. She was so thrilled to be in my house, it just almost brought a tear to my eye. I learned so much about her in such a short time. And what was really weird or neat, not sure, but her late husband worked for TD Bank all his working life.
I tried to think why this happened. We had just talked last night at night life coaching group that people come into your life for a reason, a season or a life time. But then I thought maybe this isn’t about me at all. Maybe I was just there to open the door to the past to a lovely lady who was brave enough to ring my door bell. I felt good that for a few minutes I let someone go back in time and bring back some of the wonderful childhood memories of her grandparents.
I’m sure there are lots of lessons in this brief encounter. One being grandparents have a big affect on grandchildren. There’s something special about being at Grandma’s house. Lots of great memories are created there, not to mention a whole lot of love. And I’m going to try to remember that while I make special memories for mine. Another one being that in my busyness getting ready for work, I was stopped in my tracks and got to spend a few minutes helping a little old lady reminisce about a simpler time. I felt like I went back there with her. And it sounded wonderful and uncomplicated. A time when you could knock on someone’s door and of course, expect it to be opened and probably tea offered. Which if I wasn’t going to work, I may have thought to ask her to share with me. I thought about it after that I should have given her my number for her to come back some time. But maybe that’s all it was supposed to be. I went to work in a different state of mind, that’s for sure. Interesting.
I tried to think why this happened. We had just talked last night at night life coaching group that people come into your life for a reason, a season or a life time. But then I thought maybe this isn’t about me at all. Maybe I was just there to open the door to the past to a lovely lady who was brave enough to ring my door bell. I felt good that for a few minutes I let someone go back in time and bring back some of the wonderful childhood memories of her grandparents.
I’m sure there are lots of lessons in this brief encounter. One being grandparents have a big affect on grandchildren. There’s something special about being at Grandma’s house. Lots of great memories are created there, not to mention a whole lot of love. And I’m going to try to remember that while I make special memories for mine. Another one being that in my busyness getting ready for work, I was stopped in my tracks and got to spend a few minutes helping a little old lady reminisce about a simpler time. I felt like I went back there with her. And it sounded wonderful and uncomplicated. A time when you could knock on someone’s door and of course, expect it to be opened and probably tea offered. Which if I wasn’t going to work, I may have thought to ask her to share with me. I thought about it after that I should have given her my number for her to come back some time. But maybe that’s all it was supposed to be. I went to work in a different state of mind, that’s for sure. Interesting.