This has nothing to do with this post, other than I took it today.

Today, my church put on a street fair on the upper east side. They do it every year (I think) and I decided to stop by to say hi to Jenn who was volunteering there. As I was getting ready to leave, I saw a woman out of the corner of my eye who looked so familiar. It only took me about two seconds to realize that it was Kendra, a friend from my first summer term in college.

I walked up to her to say and hi and was happy to see that she instantly recognized me. She has been living in the city with her husband and kids for the past seven years. It was great hearing about her life and catching up. She asked me if I was still in touch with anyone from that summer, to which I responded barely, followed by, “That wasn’t exactly a great time in my life.”

She reminded me that she had been in the same boat. At the time, her parents had been going through a divorce and she was feeling pretty insecure about the whole thing. And then she told me that it had been so great to meet me at that point in her life because, having survived my parents’ very drawn out and ugly divorce, I helped her to see that life doesn’t end just because your parents get divorced.

Unfortunately, I think we are rarely able to see the impact that we have on the lives of others (for good and bad), so it is so nice when we do get to see it, or at least be told about it. I’ve had some pretty crazy things happen in my life, and I often think about how those things have impacted my life personally, and the person I’ve become as a result of the craziness, but I don’t often think about how my ability to share those experiences with others can have a real impact on their lives. It was great to be reminded of that today. And it was great to reconnect with Kendra because she is so fabulous.