Friends, Part Two

Those who doubt that there are signs of God may need to pay closer attention.  Shortly after my post about friends, I went off to meet someone who we are hiring to help with a small job at our weekend home.  I posted the "job" through the church where I sometimes worship when I'm there and got six replies, all of them promising sounding.  One stood out by her choice to call me rather than email as did the others.  I liked the sound of her voice right away.  We made plans to meet at church.  After receiving a big hug from the rector, as I was looking around for my maybe new hire, I was put in the hugging mood and when she found me, I gave her a big hug.  We got some coffee and sat down, and for the next almost hour, we chatted like old friends.  I get teased about being too trusting of people I don't know, like the woman I met on the beach who pinched me on the cheeks in an angry fit when she discovered I didn't agree with her racist views of life.  The memory of that has taught me nothing, in fact, I'd forgotten the incident all together as I began to forge the beginning of a friendship with the woman from church.  She's just the sort of friend I like - - funny, self-effacing, interested in the world around her.  She and I traded information - - she's been married ten years longer than me, loved her work and is now a bit at loose ends since her retirement a few years ago, and loves the beach like I do.  Maybe it was the halo of meeting her through church, but I felt like I was not just interviewing a person to help me with a household chore but checking out my newest friend.  I told her that I hope that she and her husband will come to visit me and mine sometime and I think she may see the same spark of friendship that I see.  There were no awkward moments in that first visit and, after a quick review of plans for getting her started on the home chore, the natural time came to say goodbye, and another hug seemed like the right send off.