SERENDIPITY

 

Working in a bookstore it’s easy to identify….

which books will bring a smile to the face…which ones bring a teardrop to the eye

But every now and then…I see someone’s reaction…I see how they’re affected…

by a certain book and I think…Wow! That was totally unexpected:

I noticed an open space on the bottom shelf in our Florida Section

and I was looking for a book to replace it…something new

when I was drawn to The Moroccan, the Tampa College yearbook from 1952.

Why I chose this particular book…will always be a mystery to me…

but I faced it out on the bottom shelf…for everyone to see.

I must admit I was a astonished…a bit amazed…but charmed…

when later that same evening a man came to me with that yearbook in his arms.

He was smiling saying, “In all the times I’ve visited the Florida section of your store

I never noticed The Moroccan…this yearbook here before.

He held the book up for me and pointed saying, “See this woman…here.

“This is my mom.” He said proudly. “She passed…earlier this year.”

Yes, I have seen how a book can bring a smile to a face or a teardrop to an eye…

but this is the first time I’ve ever seen a yearbook…make a grown man…cry. 

He showed his wife.  He called his sister…and it was plain to see…

something powerful was happening…call it serendipity!

I think his mother drew me to that yearbook…

made me put it on the bottom shelf…closest to the floor…

as if she knew her son, still grieving, would be coming to our store.

As I looked at the young woman her now old son was pointing to

and saw the love etched on his face…I knew what I had to do.

I told him I believe in fate…in destiny…in serendipity 

and I believe that you and this yearbook…the two of you…were meant to be.

So I told him to keep the yearbook…and there was no way I would make him pay.

I’m pretty sure that is exactly….what his mom…would have wanted me to say.