Latest / Forged In The Dark / You Never Know Who Needs You
Transcript
- Forged In The Dark: A rainbow, a canceled or rescheduled varsity football game, Starbucks, and a birthday that I was not intended to be part of. Boy, boy, do I have a story for you today, and it's probably going to take every minute of our time together. Welcome to Forged in the Dark. I'm your host, Jamie. Let's dig in. Friday started with a run where I I was coming off of some extra recovery days for my knee. So I wasn't sure what to expect. And I set out a little bit late, and the sky looked like it wanted to rain, and there was lightning, but there was never any rain. About 20 minutes after I got home. I walked out my front door with a cup of coffee in hand to a neighbor standing in the middle of the street, and she says, good, you're here. Come, come now, come look at this. And so I go racing into the street, not knowing what to expect. And there in the sky is this beautiful rainbow that that seems to end just over my house. You can't make it up. From watching lightning in the sky with no rain on my run to this beautiful rainbow, I I couldn't help but smile. I couldn't help but think that maybe maybe today is even more aligned than usual. But the day would go on and and and I kept that that lightning in the sky rainbow energy with me. Now it is it is Friday night lights. It is football season for everyone in the country. But even growing up in the birthplace of the NFL, Texans take high school football very seriously. And and my friend Ashley, she has a love for football that you don't see in a lot of people. And she's committed to going to as many games as she can with me. So it's time to go to the game. And it is crazy raining. That rain that held off in the morning. Caught up in the evening. And I pick her up and we have our ponchos and we have our umbrellas and and We're dressed down. We are ready for a soggy game. We pull into the lot, find a spot, back in, and wait. Because we can clearly see no one is in the stands. They're not letting anyone into the stadium. So we stay in the car. And there's so much going on in the car for the hour and a half that we sat there. From the truck in front of us that didn't get the hint to turn off their lights. So I had my solar screen up. We very much enjoyed the time And we kept watching the lightning in the sky. And we would count, knowing that every time there was lightning, 30 minutes would be added. So apparently how it works is every time there's a new lightning strike, the 30 minutes resets. But if the 30 minutes resets before you even have a chance to get close to the delay of game, well, what do you do? So we sat and we waited until well, I we couldn't wait anymore. Nature was calling. And I had to make a choice. Do we sit here and wait for the final call that the game is going to be canceled? Do we go find a restroom? Because they're not gonna let us into the stadium, So finally, there were multiple lightning strikes at this in the sky all at the same time. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And I made the executive decision that we were going to Starbucks. We were going to use the restroom. We were going to get a tea. And we were going to sit inside until we got a notice that the game would be on at this time or it would be canceled. So we head out, and it is still pouring down rain as we go running into Starbucks. We place our order, use the restroom, settle in. And we we're happy with our decision. We we have our our nice warm chai lattes, it's raining outside, there's no one in there. And then another couple walks in and they place their order and they find their seat, and the man starts opening up a cake and getting plates and getting napkins. And it's a beautiful chocolate cake. And he's pushing the chocolate cake towards his wife. I wasn't sure at the time it was his wife, but I know now it was It was his wife's birthday. None of this had been confirmed yet. So I watch him push the cake over to her. And then see. The saddest look on her face. It it almost looks like she wants to cry. And then she starts to soften, and she's looking at the cake and she's thinking about it. And then very suddenly, she sits up tall and pushes the cake away. Pushes it all the way back over to him. And in this moment, with this gesture. I looked at my friend and I whispered, I whispered, this poor woman looks so sad. It looks like it's her birthday, but she's so sad. And as soon as those words came out of my mouth, she looked up and we made eye contact. Now, this would be the moment that most people would look away. But I looked at her and I said, sweetheart, how can you look so sad with such a beautiful cake in front of you? And she she she she put her hands up. You know, we're we're palms to the sky that I don't know look. You know, your your hands are up. I don't know. You know, she she gestures to the window. She says, Well, it's my birthday. And and that's when she gestured to the window, like to the weather. Like this is what I get on my birthday. And that's where we start talking. And she motions me over and I go sit beside her. And and and and so it's she, her husband is sitting across from her. I am sitting beside her, and my friend Ashley is now across from me. And we're all having this birthday conversation. And and I I think the reason I knew what was happening with her is because I've had so many birthdays where people I love have have forgotten about them. I mean, my family when I was young. my tenth birthday, everybody in my family forgot. My 19th birthday again. Entire family missed. I I have no idea how my family, my mom, my sister, my grandparents, everybody missed my birthday twice before I was 20. And and I mean I could tell you countless stories from my marriage. I can even tell you that this year on my 50th birthday, there was one person that was missing. So I do know the pain when you have this vision of your birthday being beautiful. And it's not. But We're sitting there talking about birthdays, and I'm sharing with her that I understand how hard it can be if it's really important to you. But really at the end of the day, the most important thing is to celebrate yourself. And anyway, we're we're having this whole deep conversation. And then all of a sudden, she's like, Well, you must have cake with us. And I said, Well, if we must have cake with you, we must sing you happy birthday. And next thing I know, we're all singing happy birthday. Then the Starbucks employee is in front of us saying, Hey folks, we're sorry, but we close in five minutes. So now we're like rushed. We have five minutes to have cake and finish the pleasantries. And the next thing I know, she is slicing the cake. And The first slice, the first bite she has in her fingers, and she is putting it in my mouth. Now, I do have to tell you that there was no way I wasn't eating that cake. But at the same time, there was a tiny part of me that's like, girl, you are eating cake out of a stranger's like out of a stranger's hands. Like, I don't even know when she washed her hands last. But there was no way with how happy she was. that that a stranger on a rainy night in Starbucks was like, hey, let's celebrate. And we all had cake and And there is so much more to this story. And and I know there they're The reason I started in the morning with the lightning strikes and the rainbows is because as I observed the lightning strikes and the rainbows, I knew that to or the lightning strikes and the rainbow. I I I knew that the day was going to hold something special. Within five minutes of being in Starbucks, I got the notification that the game didn't get canceled, but it got moved to Saturday night. And and it was a beautiful Saturday night game with this beautiful big red moon and and and and and we won. So so the game the game got rescheduled to the next day, which in high school football is incredibly uncommon. So the game didn't get canceled. And my friend and I ended up exactly where we were supposed to be. My friend literally was in the front seat of my car as I was making these choices that led us to changing the trajectory of someone's day. Now we did exchange information and And the very next morning I get on Instagram and there I am, front and center, me and Ashley with these people. We made it to the birthday post. And the birthday post was beautiful because it was honest. She said, My d my birthday started off boring. And then it got worse and it got worse. And it got worse until a stranger noticed and joined us. And everything after that changed. And the post goes on to share how on the way home they called friends and had friends meet them at their place. And they picked up pizza. And they had this pizza pajama party with friends in person and friends on a video call. And folks, you can't make this up. You never know how you are going to either negatively or positively affect someone. You have the power to change a random stranger's day, week, life, or I was gonna say year or life. But it's true. I did. Not start talking to her. I don't even know. I just my heart felt for her. That look of disappointment holding back the tears. I knew exactly where she was, just looking at her. But I had no idea that those minutes would change the trajectory of her birthday. And and when I say that I am grateful, I am grateful that I was in the exact right place at the exact right time. If we had left that parking lot 20 minutes earlier when we first started talking about getting tea and using the restroom, it is possible that we would have been there and gone and we never would have even crossed paths. I mean and my friend. Had the pleasure to not only change someone's day, but to make someone's birthday special. And I just looked up at the time, and I know today's episode it started choppy and it and it went long. But ladies and gentlemen, this isn't even all there is to the story. And when I was posting about this, Bangladesh was right in the middle of the screen. And don't you know that these two people are from Bangladesh? That the birthday that we helped save, she is a medical doctor in Bangladesh. She has been studying for two years to get her American licensing. She's feeling discouraged because she can't do what she was born to do. And she was in this place where I can't even have a good birthday. But because of a random act of kindness, she had an amazing birthday. And she felt loved and she smiled and I got fed cake. Ha! I ate cake out of a stranger's hand. Well, woof. You never know. You never know who needs you. You never know whose life you could change. So take what resonates the most out of this episode and put it into your life. Sometimes I have these experiences in the world and I know that I have to share them. And the closer I share them to how they actually occurred. The better. But but there's time and there's vulnerability. And and I really do always want you to take something away from these episodes that you can put into your day, put into your life. Now I'm not telling you to eat cake out of a stranger's hand. And and I'm not telling you to get involved with every person that looks sad. But for the love of Pete, please. Pay attention to your environment. W when you're seeing things like lightning strikes and rainbows, pay attention to the rest of your day. You never know where your day is going to take you, and you never know whose life you could possibly change. All right. Well, thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for listening. Thank you to everyone all over the world who's tuning in. And Yeah, that's where I'm going to leave you today. Until next time.