A stranger gave me a gift that still resonates deep within

Oh, how unexpected small miracles can be!

I and a group of friends attended an annual holiday celebration at our local zoo, where I am lucky enough to volunteer. It is a glorious festival with life-sized animal lanterns and displays of lights throughout the zoo. We all look forward to it every year.

We were walking along, and I happened to see one of the other guests wearing a halo of lights in her hair and made the casual comment to my friend about how much I loved it and that I wanted to get one for myself.

A few moments later one of my other friends in the group came up to me from behind and handed me the halo, saying that the woman had heard me and wanted to gift her halo to me.

What??? 

I couldn’t believe this. I didn’t even know who this woman was, didn’t even get to meet her and thank her myself, as she had moved on by then. I was delighted and immediately put it on my head and continued to wear it for the rest of the night. 

I am still feeling the reverberations and echoes of that gift this morning. 

I have recently written about finally feeling seen and heard for who I am, now in my elder years, feeling welcomed by a new chosen family of volunteers at the zoo, feeling more authentically myself than I ever have before in my life, and grateful beyond description. And here I was at one of my favorite places with dear friends, and out of the blue comes this most delightful surprise and gift from this woman and from the Universe. 

It strikes me how very important it is to stay open to all that is happening around us, to what may be coming our way, to beauty, to things that we may want and to speak those things aloud. And sometimes, the Universe hears us in that moment and grants us our wish. Sometimes we connect with someone’s heart randomly, never seeing them again, yet having shared a moment of human kindness, love, and connection. 

I am so deeply touched by this. It strikes deep within in even more ways that I can articulate in this moment. I wanted to write about it, to express how I feel, to encourage others to be open to see what surprises may come their way, to acknowledge that we all are so hungry for these random gifts that come not from what we do, but simply because we are here, right now, in this body, in this place on the earth, and that others see our light and heart. 

So, I got to wear my halo of lights all night long, got smiles about it along the way. I will cherish this halo and memory for the rest of my life. It says I see you. I value you. You deserve to show your light and love. It’s ok to be seen. You are safe. And you can let love in. Do not restrict your ideas of where this love can come from, and you may be surprised. 

Wishing you random gifts of light and love as you walk your path. Let the gifts in. You deserve them, simply because you are.