Follow SFLE on Twitter . Like SFLE on Facebook . SFLE on Tumblr . Instagram with SFLEEvery time I say “Angel in Disguise” I think of that song by Brandy. I digress.
Today, the boy and I hit up our favorite Mexican restaurant – I’m talking authentic and absolutely DELICIOUS! We were standing in line (there is always a line – can we say poppin’?) when this lady appeared behind us. My angel. I honestly don’t remember her walking through the door but there she was, behind us and extremely talkative! She carried a very large purse. It was full of papers and random “stuff” coming out of it and the seams were tattered. She was bundled for the weather, wore glasses and spoke very loudly. She interrupted our conversation:
“Are you guys going up the hill?” she asked.
She could barely get it out, stumbling over some words as if she forgot what she was about to ask or which direction she really needed to go. We gently let her know we were unfamiliar with the area and didn’t quite understand her request and then silence fell. A few more minutes of standing and she was still making small talk, speaking on how the food looked (clearly not too appealing to her). I assured her it was delicious and that she should give it a try, and then she ordered.
While she was ordering in her very loud and direct voice, I could see the employees looking slightly confused, but they still remained very kind.
“That will be something something and 11 cents”. I only remember the 11 cents part because I had a dime, the hubby had a quarter, and I was searching for a penny.
Lo and behold, the lady came up to us and offered us a penny. I let her know it was fine, we would just use a quarter, but she insisted that I take the penny.
“It’s a gift”, she said.
Put off by her kindness, I took the penny and thanked her – twice. She smiled warmly and replied with “you’re welcome”.
Driving home I could only think of the lady in line. Maybe to one person it was just a “penny”, but I saw it as much more. She gave without second thought. She was nice just because, yanno? Who knows – that could have been her last penny. Hell, she could be sitting on millions on millions of pennies, I don’t know but what I do know is her kindness does not go unnoticed. She was my angel tonight and maybe I was hers…
Being grateful for everything allows for me to see the small gestures others do and appreciate them even more. I always tell people, “people don’t have to be nice, but I thankful that they are”. And the whole “angels in disguise” theme makes me think back to my Dad. Growing up, he always told me that you never truly know who you’re encountering in life because they may not be human at all. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. [Hebrews 13:2]
I read a quote by Whoppi Goldberg that said “When you are kind to someone in trouble, you hope they’ll remember and be kind to someone else. And it’ll become like a wildfire.” Maybe it will… just maybe it will.
I keep an open mind when meeting others as I may be entertaining angels in disguise.
