When someone shares coffee with me: airplane adventures

It's already April, and it's time to get down to business with these coffees.

I had one of those moments the other day on an airplane when I didn't think I was going to be able to pull off all my coffees by the end of this year (or was it a year from October when I made a goal with the guys on the train?). I think I have until October, but still, 87 is a lot of coffees. I picked a big number. Why didn't I pick 27 or something?

Just when I was feeling a little ambivilant toward the whole project, I sat down next to two chatty ladies. By the end of the flight, I had learned that the neighbor my left (Kelsey) was in a bad car wreck a couple weeks ago. She showed us pictures of the car. Danielle, sitting to her left, kept showing us pictures of her trip to Columbia. Go there, she said, if you ever get the chance. I also learned they BOTH love their dogs very much.

All these conversations began because of one simple question: "Are you Irish?" I saw the ring she was wearing. After I asked, Danielle piped in that she was Irish, too.

These two cured my recent bout of favoring anonymity over meeting strangers, especially on airplanes and trams and the like.

Of course, every time I come out of my shell again, I'm dazzled by the stories and all the adventures (except when traveling makes me motion sick but that's neither here nor there). And I'm sure the tales I learn keep changing me.

I wouldn't have guessed that Danielle came from a tough background, one I fight all the time in my work with my kiddoes. But that's her story to tell, not mine.

Her kindness and spirit, I don't think she'd mind me sharing with you. Because she and Kelsey made the coffee happen, hands down.

Thanks, ladies, for reminding me that this job isn't always work. Sometimes, I get to just sit back and watch the stories unfold.