I was adopted at six weeks old. I’ve always been curious about my birth families my entire life. Finally, in 2005, I decided to try to find them. Once I learned my birth mother’s name, it wasn’t long until I found and connected with her family. She, however, has wanted nothing to do with me or them, but this story isn’t about that.
I’m in retail, and my primary job is selling our products, and training, and developing the brand within our retail partners. One day, I was standing in the handbag department when two ladies approached me. They were quite loud before they came over to the department. Nothing was out of the ordinary just yet. The pair were having a wonderful time shopping together and talking about random things.
I said “hello” when suddenly, one of the women looked at me with shock. I’m serious, her mouth fell open. She stared at me for a long moment, and then she said, “You look just like a little girl I went to grade school with named (my birthmother’s first name),” to which I replied who I was. I also found it uncommonly strange she was looking at me as if I was a child when I was, in fact, in my late 40s at this time. She didn’t believe me about who I was until I answered the only few personal questions I knew about my b-mother.
Finally, she introduces herself and tells this sweet story: One day, she was out fundraising by selling candy. A bully came up to her and knocked her down. The bully took her candy and her money. After confiding in my b-mother, my b-mother proceeded to the bully’s house and demanded it all back and threatened to beat up the bully, to which the bully complied and gave it all back. The woman and my b-mother were friends from that day forward. We held hands for a moment and looked each other in the eyes. I could tell for each of us we had a connected moment over the same person but over completely different feelings. Nonetheless it was definitely a positive connection for both of us.
Then, just as quickly as it began, the two women went back to their lovely day of shopping together. They left the store shortly after, and I’ve never seen this woman again, although she touched something in me no one else ever has.
Tell Me Something Good