Timing

 There are a two rules I live by:

1- Everything that happens is meant to be.

2- There are 7 Billion people in this world and they all have something to teach you-Listen!

A few short years before my divorce I was working with a server who asked me to meet her mother. She had not seen her mother in 22 years. Her mother lived in Ethiopia. I said sure why not. She was born and raised in that country, with her father being a diplomat, she came to the United States. She lived in a few states other than Washington, D.C. ending up in California. 

She had a wicked sense of humor, beautiful Ethiopian features, was the hardest worker in the restaurant, besides me of course. From the moment we met we were inseparable. We did not eat the same food, our husbands never met, she came from a large family plus we both loved people. She was 5'2" and I am 5'7" both wish a wicked mouth, both taking no nonsense from our customers. We were not in a union restaurant so we worked breakfast, lunch or dinner, sometimes all three. Fifteen steps away from our front door was an Orange County Performing Art Center. With all of the celebrities walking through the door, the adoring patrons followed. 

We flew from Los Angeles to New York to London to Addis Ababa. I never knew what security was until I stepped off the plane. There were hands between my legs, in my arm pits, between my toes, in my ears and out my mouth. I was suspected of carrying contraband. Everyone looks that way after 24 hours of flying but I was white and everyone else on the plane was dark skinned. It took 4 hours to get through security and 2 hours to get through customs. I dressed and undressed 3 times and never had sex.

Her mother was so much fun. It was September 11 their New Year's Day event. This was in 1980. they were free from invaders like Russia, Italy, France and several other countries over the past 100 years. We went shopping, to a wedding, to a christening of a baby and danced around the house every night. She stayed with her mother, I went on to Eritrea, Gondar, Axum, Laibela, Mekele alone. I did not speak the language but I had American Dollars. The highlight of my trip was where the Blue Nile and the White Nile meet  on the edge of Sudan border with beautiful waterfalls. I carried on to Nairobi, Kenya where I had the pleasure of taking 7 safari's.  I slept in a tree, ran from a hippopotamus, watched baby cheetah play in a tree and ate whatever was put in front of me. I don't ask. If you are hungry you will eat it.

If my friend had never asked me to meet her mother I could not share these memories with you.

Timing with people you cross paths, is likely to be a special moment in your life. Look up and Smile.

Bon Voyage!