I met this woman by happenstance while doing laundry in Florence, Italy. My son and I were on an extended holiday in
Europe and as such were tasked with doing our laundry. Confounded by the intricacies of doing so in
a foreign place, I lost 4 euros (about 5 dollars) in a change machine. I was disgruntled but just thought it was the
price I had to pay. I sat down on 1 of
the 3 seats available in this 10x10 foot smallish laundromat and waited as my
clothes washed. A woman sat down beside me
and we started to chat. I spoke English
only and was amazed that this woman spoke fluent English as well. I told her about my travels and how I sometimes was
confounded by the simplest things (doing laundry or finding the right train to
get to my destination). She pulled out 5
euros and said she found it in the laundromat machine when she was buying
tokens. She handed the euros to me and
said that she had a feeling she would see me to give the euros back to me. I was amazed at her honesty in doing so.
Thinking back, I realize how strange and beautiful it is to have experiences like
this.
