Runaway Pram

Today started off ordinarily enough. We walked to church in the cool, bright sunshine, then made a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for lunch. After returning home, we made a delicious tuna nicoise salad which was so pretty I took a picture of it, to possibly use in my post:

Being such a beautiful day, Gus decided to go for a long bike ride, so I used the time to run a few errands. At the last minute, I made a stop at Williams-Sonoma to see about buying an olive oil dispenser, but, not finding one I liked, decided to make a quick run to another kitchen store up the street. And then, quite unexpectedly, I saved someone's life.

As I was jaywalking across a two-lane street, suddenly I heard a woman cry out "Oh, my God!" and not ten feet in front of me, out rolls a baby carriage from between two parked cars. In a split second, I ran to it and blocked the stroller with my legs before it could roll into the opposing traffic. Before I could even stop to think, the mom was there, clutching the stroller handlebars, wide-eyed and shaking, clearly in shock. I guided her toward the sidewalk and asked if she was okay. She lamented that the stroller's brakes had failed and with the decline in the sidewalk, it had been able to roll away as she answered her phone. She expressed her gratitude towards me and a shopkeeper came out to console her, so I went about my way, not really sure what else to do. It wasn't until a few minutes later, after I had turned the corner, that the full gravity of the situation hit me and I started shaking and crying, a wave of relief washing over me as I replayed the event in my mind.

It's such a strange feeling when you stop to think how interconnected we and all our actions are. If I hadn't had a craving for tuna nicoise, I wouldn't have gone looking for the olive oil container because I wouldn't have been frustrated trying to pour from the giant metal can we have at home. If the buyers at Williams-Sonoma stocked more than one choice of those things, I wouldn't have needed to go to the other store. If it had been raining, I may not have gone at all. If I had gotten a phone call. If the baby's mom hadn't. If, if and what if, the possibilities go on and on! It's enough to make just about anyone crazy, and I try not to get too carried away with these things as they give me a terrible headache.

I guess all I can say is that today, without a shadow of a doubt, I was finally in the right place at the right time!