Miss Ann Says

On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to tell my September 11 story to a group of teens at the high school my daughters had attended. My plan for the morning had been to leave early, go to the post office and then drive the route I had driven so many times before.  Well when Tuesday morning rolled around, I realized I had time to go to the post office later in the day and just felt that if I went first thing I may be late for “school”.  So I left and drove the same route I had driven so many times before. I even made note of “what color was winning?”. When my girls were little and we would travel a similar route to their childcare center, I would ask them “what color is winning?” translation which color of leaves is the most prominent. I did make a detour through Starbucks for a Grande Chai Latte. I was glad Starbucks hadn’t been on the route to school when my daughters were in high school or we would have had to leave the house even earlier. Anyway on Tuesday  I would arrive at “school” early and I would sit in the car for a few minutes finishing my Chai Latte.

I would decide to go into the office to visit the “office moms” as my younger daughter used to call the two wonderful women who manage the front office (and the school).  As I walked up to the front door of the school a woman was walking in carrying a gym bag. She held the door open for me and I followed her into the front office. I stood back as she explained to one of the “office moms”, Mrs P. that her daughter had called/texted her to say she had left her gym clothes at home. Mrs P said she would take care of getting the clothes to her daughter. And then Mrs P. looked at me and said “you two have something in common.” Later, Mrs P would tell me  that when she looked up from her desk and saw both of us standing there she couldn’t believe it and realized we needed to know we shared a connection.  So I told the “gym clothes mom” that my husband was one of the firefighters killed on September 11 and I asked her what her connection was. She told me her husband had  been killed on the 101 floor of Tower 1. We both expressed our condolences to each other and then I asked her if I could give her a hug. We hugged and continued talking. I asked how old her children are (15, 17) and we had an amazing conversation. I asked if she would like to have coffee sometime and gave her my “card”, we hugged again and she left. And that was a God moment because there is no way we should have both been in that office at that moment. I am very grateful for His plans for my days.