December 15- What's your story?

       Today was a pretty quiet day. I was packing up getting ready to move buildings for a month at school. I decided that I had been sitting inside for too long and needed some fresh air. I did have one errand I was going to do tomorrow, but I decided to do it today. So I put on some presentable clothes and headed out to the craft store.
     When I arrived at the store I was on a mission. I thought to myself, okay just put your head down and get what you need and get out. I only needed one or two things and knew it wouldn't take me very long. I was in the paint aisle and say this little older lady trying to reach something from the top shelf. I stopped to ask if she needed help. She smiled softly and told me what she was trying to get, so I reached up to the top shelf to get it for her. When I placed it in her cart she and I made eye contact for the first time. In that moment she looked at me with sad eyes. What I noticed first was that she commented on my worn purple shirt. She said "my granddaughter used to have a shirt just like that." I smiled and said that purple was my favorite color. In that moment the woman began to cry. I apologized for saying something wrong, unaware of what I had said or done to upset her. The woman wiped away her tears, and told me that the paint I had just gotten from the top shelf for her was the last color she needed to complete a painting she was doing in her granddaughters memory. The woman began to tell me that her granddaughter was only 10 when she passed just a few months ago. She told me that no one really knew why she had died, but she just did. I couldn't help it but shed a tear as this woman shared her granddaughter's story with me. She told me that she lived alone, and most of her friends didn't know how to act around her. "I just needed someone to talk to." she said.
      By the end of our conversation nearly 30 minutes had passed. At the end I hugged the woman and told her that her granddaughter was looking down on her with a smile. She told me "I think she sent you here to me...I really needed this. Thank  you."
       I couldn't believe how strange this day was. Here I wanted to get in and get out. Today, however, God had a different plan for me. My one act of humanness to help this older woman turned into a moment that truly changed the outlook of her day. Through this woman and her granddaughter I began to look at my life a little differently. I think from now on I am going to go into situations with a more open mind. I'm so glad that I was open to helping her reach the top shelf.