Silver Linings

I am a half-empty person my nature.  I have to work really hard to see the glass full.  Making lemonade out of lemons is a skill set that I have worked hard to gain.

So when Marie had her bus incident and we couldn’t find her, I wasn’t even looking for a silver lining because it took all my energy to stay calm.  Even after she was delivered safely back home and I had a chance to wrap my arms around her as I inhaled her sweet scent, I was just thankful she was home.  I couldn’t even fathom a lesson from all of that chaos.

It wasn’t until we sat down to dinner and had a debriefing on the situation that a silver lining had appeared.

Harrington: How did you know you were on the wrong bus?

Marie: When there were only a few people left on the bus, I asked the bus driver when was the last stop.  When she said the next stop was the last one and it was at KinderCare, I knew I was the wrong bus.

Me: What did you tell her?

Marie: I think I’m on the wrong bus.  So I gave her my address.

Me: How did you know to do that?

Me: If I didn’t say anything, how was I going to get home?

I honestly could not have hoped for a better answer.

She spoke up when something was not right.

She did not panic and freeze.

She stayed calm and gave the necessary information to get herself out of the situation.

It is kind of like what Eleanor Roosevelt said:

It brings me great peace that she had the confidence and courage to take care of herself without me right there. 

After she was tucked safely into bed and the house was quiet, I was able to process the whole scene again.  I remember how the moms at the bus stop, most of them that I had just met that very day, stayed with me until I knew the bus driver was trying to find Marie.

A mom I knew before offered to take Thomas, but when he would only girls to play with, another mom offered to take him back to her house to play Legos with her son.

Another mom came by to make sure I was OK and even gave me a hug as I waited anxiously on the sidewalk for the bus to arrive.

The friend that I made earlier in the summer listened to me vent how scared I was.

Deciding to move is a total leap of faith.  Are the neighbors nice?  Will there be kids for my kids to play with?  Since I decided it would be off-putting to interview neighbors in a neighborhood we could potentially move into, the answers really only reveal themselves in time.

My heart is filled with gratitude when I think how these moms stepped in to help a perfect stranger.

And I am thankful for the silver linings. 

Do you have to work hard in finding silver linings?  When was a time you were able to find one in a scary situation?