We were en route home after an exhilarating trip to New York City, and a visit with my sister-in-law and brother in the suburbs. Traffic approaching and entering Connecticut promised to be dense. I had no desire to let slow traffic spoil my wonderful experiences. I was happy to slowly roll with the journey or even stop. A state rest stop appeared on I-84 and I took it, even though there wasn't an apparent need. Perhaps we could bargain with Mother Nature to not pester us during untimely gridlock later in our trip.

Before we entered the pavilion, we saw Mary and companions having their photos taken in front of the "Welcome to Connecticut" sign. There's something about Mary! Charm? Joy? Curiosity? An open heart? Friendliness? A love of people? Spunk! All of it! Before long, I offered to send another snapshot to her, and she and I settled onto the bench in front of the sign. 

Mary told me when in September she will be celebrating her 85th birthday. She told me about her husband, who had shared a name with someone famous in Hollywood. Sheldon was a "wonderful, wonderful person." He died 12 years ago. Mary, a spirited cancer survivor, was traveling with her daughter, Diana, and their friend, Joanne. And they were on a mission! They were following The Texas Tenors on a road trip, and intended to attend concerts in Danvers, Massachusetts, Arundel, Maine, and a stop "somewhere in Rhode Island and somewhere in Connecticut". They've been groupies since discovering them on America's Got Talent.

Mary and her husband, Sheldon, had nine children. Diana is the oldest of the first six, all daughters; they were followed by three sons. 

We all also met Ken and Carolyn Y.. A South Carolinian, Ken had worked at Westinghouse in Charlotte, NC. The couple had traveled all of Route 66 before, and suggested obtaining a map from Historic 66 if you ever plan to make the same trip. (Or is it the Route 66 Association Hall of Fame & Museum in Pontiac? Or the Litchfield Museum? No matter. They strongly suggested that anyone taking that trip get a designated Route 66 map.) This month, they and their beautiful red Ford pickup are embarking on their cross country trip from Boston to Newport, Oregon along Route 20. Small world? Ken and Diana shared one degree of separation, each knowing Tony who also worked at the same Westinghouse plant. 

It was party time at that rest stop and the swap of stories among the seven of us continued. Mary wove Alan and me back into the stories wondering how he, originally an Oregonian, and I, now from Massachusetts, had met. (She didn't know I was born in New York State.) That thread essentially tied us into Ken and Carolyn's journey. Minutes earlier we were all strangers in the same mess of traffic approaching the rest stop.  Because Mary and I reached out to one another, we were now one joyful web of new friends.

On a specific day this coming September, when Mary and Joanne will celebrate different but significant birthdays on the same day, I'll be thinking of them wondering where they are. I imagine there will be quite a joyful party in Pennsylvania that day - perhaps in Mount Union, Carlisle or Shippensburg. Mary will hold court with another group of friends and strangers. And the world will feel a lot lighter and brighter wherever she shares her joy. 

Or maybe not in Pennsylvania. Let's find out where the Texas Tenors will be touring. I'll gladly bake the cakes in order to be part of this lovely slice of humanity again. Who knows? Maybe our three Texas Tenor fans will be at another state's welcome sign, greeting all who would pause for a beautiful moment of curiosity and connection. 

"Take care of each other; you make a wonderful, wonderful loving couple," Mary kept repeating. I think Mary must see goodness everywhere. While we conversed, she made many references to "wonderful, wonderful."

That's because wonderful is who she is. 

Safe travels, my friends. Thank you for our moments together. I got to see goodness. May you continue to have a wonderful, wonderful life.