Destiny & Distance

1°

It's November, people are going nuts about thanksgiving and Walmart's are completely full, it's been almost 30 minutes and I'm stuck trying to pay, behind me there was this older lady struggling with its stuff so I helped her, she smiled at me and said thanks.

—You're welcome ma'am.

—Nice to meet you, I'm Lisa, by the way.  -she extended her hand for me to shake-

—You too Ms. Lisa, I'm Gabriela.

—This month is a mess, isn't it? -she gives me a warm smile-

Nostalgia invades my body since it's almost Christmas and I'm not gonna be able to spend it with my family, I try to avoid those thoughts and smile back

—Actually it is! But December is totally worse, everyone is driving themselves crazy about gifts, dinner, decorating, it's incredible

—But it's my favorite month, I just love Christmas, spending time with my children, my family. It's worth the madness

—That's what I'll miss the most, sadly, I'm not gonna be able to spend this Christmas with my family

Crazy how I started talking with this lady as if we knew each other from before

—Oh darling, sad to hear. Why is it? Is your family leaving the house?

—No ma'am, I am the one who left, the saddest thing is that I didn't leave the state but the country

—How come you did that? So, your family isn't here in the US?

—I needed to. No, they aren't here

—And who you're spending thanksgiving and Christmas with, dear?

—By myself, I guess, I'm just moved here, I don't have friends yet -I nervously giggle-

—Well, consider ourselves friends now! And of course I'd love to invite you to spend thanksgiving and Christmas with me and my family, I won't accept a no -she laughed, I laughed back-

—Thank you for being so kind Ms. Lisa, but are you sure it isn't a problem?

—A hundred percent sure, my family will love to meet a new friend.

We exchanged numbers and talked until it was my turn to pay, we said goodbye and I went home, started to organize what I bought.

Days went by as usual, FaceTiming my family back in Venezuela, walking around Boston to get to meet the town a little more.

While I was out walking, I received a text message from Lisa reminding me to come to her house on thanksgiving and sending me her address, I spoke to her for a bit more and went straight to buy something, I couldn't get to her house with bare hands so I bought some wine, cookies and flowers.

~

After getting lost, I was finally able to find Lisa's house, I'm here in front of her door but too shy and ashamed to knock. My mind is going to the velocity of light speed thinking wether I'm going to be welcomed or not.

After, I stopped -or at least tried to- overthinking and knocked on the door wishing it was Lisa who opened the door to make it less uncomfortable, and luckily, it was her

—Hi Ms. Lisa! How are you? -I greeted her and so did she, hugging me back-

—Come in darling! I'm gonna introduce you to my children

—Oh, and, I got these -I extended the flowers-

—They're gorgeous, Gabriela, thank you.

—Your welcome -I laughed a bit- oh, and these are for you too -I showed the wine and cookies-

—You brought cookies and wine, by now I'm a hundred percent sure my children will love you -we laughed-

I followed her around the house, it was big but not excessively big, we got to a living room and she introduced me

—Guys, remember the friend I told you about? Well, this is Gabriela. Gabriela, these are my daughters Carly and Shanna, and this is my son Scott

—Nice to meet you -I greeted all of them- I'm Gabriela

—We were expecting someone over her 50 to be honest -Carly laughed, and so did we-

—Well, I'm 28 if that works -we laughed again-

—Totally, Shanna and I needed some girl friends back here

—I can have young friends too, Carly, don't be so hard on your mom -she laughed again- my husband Robert is buying somethings that I forgot, he should be home soon... and oh, I have another son but he couldn't make it, you'll meet him in Christmas

—He is the boring one -Scott said- I'm the bomb -and it was all laugh-

I'm actually loving this family, we sit there in the living room talking about memories and eating the cookies I brought, Lisa left for a bit and I ended up talking to her daughters and son, we made plans of going to the cinema in the weekend and then hitting a bar, of course I totally agreed, after a while Lisa appeared with a man by his side which I assumed was her husband

—Nice to meet you, I'm Robert Evans, my wife has talked about you -he extended his hand-

—I hope it was good things -I laughed, trying to sound polite. But how much could she say about me if we just met?- Nice to meet you too sir, I'm Gabriela

—Good things only, don't worry -he laughed-

We talked quite a lot, I exchanged numbers with Lisa's children, ate a lot too and then drank wine, I told them the reason why I left country, the whole story, we even FaceTimed with my family and the Evans told my family that I was good with them and not to worry because I'm part of their family now.

How is it possible that in so little time you connect with persons like this?