Tap, Tap, Tap

Tap, tap, tap, the white cane echoed in the plane walkway. I caught up with her, then slowed down to allow an extra moment for a blind person to "tap" onto the plane. But she was headed toward a sidewall away from the door. I touched her arm. "No this way, to the plane door."

Near the center of the plane we met a stewardess. "Are you two traveling together?"

"No", I replied, "Here's my seat by the window." I watched her move on, tap, tap, tap, down the aisle. The stewardess touched her arm, then stepped back as if she'd been burned. "Take your hands off me I can do it by myself." I saw marks of bitterness on her face and in her sightless eyes as she searched for her place.

The stewardess looked at me in dismay, "I wonder where that all comes from?" I imagined many scenarios for an answer.

I wondered about it throughout the flight. What might have been my response in the walkway had she spoken to me in a tone of bitterness?

And true confession, my mind dropped her in the hurried exit to my destination. What is it that I miss on the way there? 

FAW revealed to me almost 30 years ago the importance of relationships to, self, God, significant others and the world. Today after several years she returns in the early hours of this day, 3:00 AM!

I've thought and thought about this stranger who taught and still teaches: "Oh, Lord, Keep me responding intuitively with an open and caring response when 'You' come, tap, tapping into my life."

Questions: 

Who tapped into your life today? What was your response? Their response?

Adaline writes from Northbrook Il where she leads journal workships, teaches creative writing and LifeStory writing. She also does grief workshops, writes stories for children and has volunteered in Interginerational Partnership.

Adaline's book, While It Was Still Dark, conveys her encounter with separation & loss in a succession of sharply limned images. She doesn't discourse about grief, she evokes its many moods.