she was a kindred spirit

she was thankful that it was a balmy december day. carrying 6 packages into the post office would have been awkward in the rain, snow or wind. balancing the packages on her hip, she entered the post office and smiled at the long line of customers. she took her place behind an elderly gentleman holding a large box. he smiled hello and she answered back with a “i should have known better”. he replied with a hearty, “we all should have!” he seemed happy to have company during what looked to be a long wait.

she set her packages down on the floor, knowing she could scoot them along the floor all the way to the counter. he did the same thing and indicated the package was definitely getting heavier by the minute. he said it contained a coffeemaker that he was sending to his sister in arizona for christmas. he’d been to the PO earlier that morning to buy the box and now was back in line to ship it.

as the line moved forward she saw that an old christmas movie was playing on a television conveniently placed for viewing by the customers. he commented that it was a different movie than it had been at 9:00 am. she commented that she didn’t know the name of it. “it stars Bing Crosby,” he said. “and that’s danny kaye,” she replied. neither of them knew the female lead but they both said “rosemary clooney” in unison when she came on the screen. she couldn’t help thinking what a nice gesture the movie was by the postal staff.

glancing around the lobby she noticed the traditional red north pole mailbox decorated with snow and ribbon. only one letter was visible in the box. hmmm, she thought, is there a deadline for placing letters in the box for guaranteed delivery to santa before christmas eve? it was the post office after all.

as the gentleman turned to take his turn at the counter, he thanked her for chatting and wished her a happy holiday. he seemed lonely and she so hoped that he had family at home to keep him company and give him a wonderful holiday. she said a silent prayer for his well-being and hoped there would be someone to look out after her when she was old. she also hoped she’d still be happy to spend a few minutes with a kindred spirit in a holiday line when she was older. what comes around, goes around she thought. and she knew she’d be just fine when she was old.