Mary’s Minute
“Strangers
are just friends waiting to happen”
~ Rod McKuen
A single interaction with a person you have never met can
change everything. For years growing up
my siblings and I loved to hear the story of my mom and dad’s first date. They met on a blind date on July 10, 1960. They were strangers, but not for long.
Each day our paths cross with strangers, and every so often
one of those strangers can change everything. We can’t predict what stranger it
will be. The romantic stories are perhaps the ones that stick with us, but it
is true for friends and even acquaintances.
My best friend, Dixie, was a kindergarten teacher next to me my first
year of teaching. We were strangers, and
she admitted years later that initially she didn’t really want to like me! Now I think we both agree that we have
changed each other’s lives in some way.
Over the last few months, people who were strangers to me have
become my friends.
Teachers often start the year with a room full of strangers
in front of them. Over the course of the
school year, teachers are changed by their students and a teacher who was a
stranger to students may have changed their lives.
During these days we are striving to avoid strangers, but in
doing so I think it makes us more reflective on what chance interactions with
strangers can mean to us and to where they can lead. We will be grateful for the time when we have
the chance to cross paths with strangers and the potential for amazing changes.
Stay safe and well!
Mary
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