Lessons from Complete Strangers

    This past weekend we had the pleasure to go to a fancy resturaunt. It was full of atmosphere, deliciousness, and great friends! One of the most entertaining parts of the night was the two elderly women that sat behind Brian. Everytime he ordered anything they would look over his shoulder to see what he had ordered and then call the waiter over to ask what he had just gotten. This became really funny to everyone at our table. These women were both decked out in their best pumpkin sweaters and biggest pumpkin earrings. They were real characters! When they got up to leave they walked right beside me and I asked how they liked their meal. They proceeded to tell us how much they loved the restaraunt, this was their first time to come to Memphis they were on a senior citizen trip and they had been told they could go wherever they wanted for the night. I am so thankful they chose to come to the same restaraunt as us because the life experiences that they talked about made me want to be a better, wife, friend and person. 

   As they stood at our table and talked they told us that they had been life long friends and they lost their husbands within two months of each other. They told us that losing their husbands was the worst thing they could've imagined but they came together and became each others rocks. They told us not to ever take our marriages for granted, to always appreciate our partner because they miss their husbands every single day. They also told us to hold your friends close to be good to each other because one day you will need them more than you can imagine. They told us they had to get back to their hotel to watch the rest of the world series and with that they were gone.

   Our entire table, including the guys, was in awe. We were in awe of the strength these women had, the loss they had experienced made us all sad, the friendship that they had made us all so happy! Who would have thought that two complete strangers from Buffalo, NY could make our entire table want to be a better spouse, a better friend, and a better person.
 
    Thanks to those women I squeezed Brian's hand a little tighter, I enjoyed the company of my friends a little more and I said a prayer that I may be as transparent as those women. I pray that God uses me as a vessel just like he used those women to change us for the better.