A Ray of Light. An Angel Among Us.
Last Saturday Rob and I had the privilege of attending the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Man and Woman of the Year gala. It was a beautiful evening in which my mother-in-law, Nancy Minton, was honored as a Woman of the Year Candidate. She had one goal throughout her campaign, and that was to raise a minimum of $50,000 to have a grant named in memory of her son, and my late husband, Michael.
Our team had nine reserved tables at the event and Rob and I had the privilege of being sat at the same table as a man named Ray. We had never met Ray before, but man, I'm so glad we did. Ray was a light. He was so easy to talk to and was seriously so funny.
I've often heard that there are always angels among us, we just can't see them. There are two things that happened that evening in our conversations with Ray though that make me think otherwise. I saw one. And I talked to one.
Being a stay-at-home mom isn't a glamorous job. It's exhausting and overwhelming and at times leaves you questioning your contributions to society and your place in the world as an individual. But being a mom, and a homeschool mom, are the only two things that have ever felt truly right and authentic to me. Ray and Rob were deep in conversation about school and jobs and degrees and all stuff career related. I listened quietly and was so impressed with everything Ray had done throughout his life. When Rob excused himself to the restroom, Ray looked at me and said,
"So, what do you do?"
A part of me froze inside thinking, "How can I compare to ANYTHING they just talked about?!" But I smiled and responded, "I am a stay at home mom and I homeschool our kids." There it was. In my head it was everything and nothing all at once. Ray's simple reaction had more of an impact on me than he will ever know.
A huge smile crossed his face and he said, "Good for you! That's so good." We talked a bit more about it, but those simple words, his instant reaction, his body language that said to me, "YES! Your right where you're suppose to be!", spoke volumes to me. I desperately needed to hear that that night.
A few hours went by and toward the end of the evening he pulled Rob and I aside. He told us to hold hands and said that he had something he wanted to say to us. I reached over for Rob's hand and we listened as a stranger spoke one of the most profound things that had ever been spoken to us.
Ray had know us for less that three hours. He doesn't know our story. He doesn't know the tragedies in either of lives that brought us together. As we were holding hands he said to us, "You two have something very special. Something not many people have. Don't ever, ever let anything change that. Work hard to make sure that you two stay the way you are forever. Promise that you won't change or let anything come between you. Don't lose this."
His words instantly made me cry. There are a lot of people that know our story and know how Rob and I came together. But not Ray. He simply saw us for us. He witnessed that what we have is special and true and genuine. The fact that he spoke those life and love affirming words to us meant more to me than he could ever possibly know.
The night ended beautifully. Nancy (in her terms, "miraculously") met her goal of raising $50,000 in memory of Michael. And we met one of the kindest, most gentle spirited and funny people we had ever met. Ray isn't pictured in any pictures. I don't know his last name and I have no contact information for him. But I will remember him forever and what a difference he made with his words that evening. He was genuinely a Ray of light. An angel among us.
Our team had nine reserved tables at the event and Rob and I had the privilege of being sat at the same table as a man named Ray. We had never met Ray before, but man, I'm so glad we did. Ray was a light. He was so easy to talk to and was seriously so funny.
I've often heard that there are always angels among us, we just can't see them. There are two things that happened that evening in our conversations with Ray though that make me think otherwise. I saw one. And I talked to one.
Being a stay-at-home mom isn't a glamorous job. It's exhausting and overwhelming and at times leaves you questioning your contributions to society and your place in the world as an individual. But being a mom, and a homeschool mom, are the only two things that have ever felt truly right and authentic to me. Ray and Rob were deep in conversation about school and jobs and degrees and all stuff career related. I listened quietly and was so impressed with everything Ray had done throughout his life. When Rob excused himself to the restroom, Ray looked at me and said,
"So, what do you do?"
A part of me froze inside thinking, "How can I compare to ANYTHING they just talked about?!" But I smiled and responded, "I am a stay at home mom and I homeschool our kids." There it was. In my head it was everything and nothing all at once. Ray's simple reaction had more of an impact on me than he will ever know.
A huge smile crossed his face and he said, "Good for you! That's so good." We talked a bit more about it, but those simple words, his instant reaction, his body language that said to me, "YES! Your right where you're suppose to be!", spoke volumes to me. I desperately needed to hear that that night.
A few hours went by and toward the end of the evening he pulled Rob and I aside. He told us to hold hands and said that he had something he wanted to say to us. I reached over for Rob's hand and we listened as a stranger spoke one of the most profound things that had ever been spoken to us.
Ray had know us for less that three hours. He doesn't know our story. He doesn't know the tragedies in either of lives that brought us together. As we were holding hands he said to us, "You two have something very special. Something not many people have. Don't ever, ever let anything change that. Work hard to make sure that you two stay the way you are forever. Promise that you won't change or let anything come between you. Don't lose this."
His words instantly made me cry. There are a lot of people that know our story and know how Rob and I came together. But not Ray. He simply saw us for us. He witnessed that what we have is special and true and genuine. The fact that he spoke those life and love affirming words to us meant more to me than he could ever possibly know.
The night ended beautifully. Nancy (in her terms, "miraculously") met her goal of raising $50,000 in memory of Michael. And we met one of the kindest, most gentle spirited and funny people we had ever met. Ray isn't pictured in any pictures. I don't know his last name and I have no contact information for him. But I will remember him forever and what a difference he made with his words that evening. He was genuinely a Ray of light. An angel among us.
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