A "WOW" Moment ....

The following is a true story which my friend "Sunshine" experienced and wrote .... enjoy!!

As some of you know, I have a little part time job with an agency that contracts with MHMR. Since March 1, 2006, I've been driving Willie and Karen to doctor appointments, day hab, church, shopping, the bank, bowling, etc. Sometimes it's very entertaining and some times its infuriating. But last week, we had a truly awesome experience.

Willie is 69 and Karen is 65. Most of the time they call me "momma". I've gotten used to it, but it did take a while. They've been married 14 years and met in a group home. Both are mildly retarded. Willie deals with depression and Karen is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. She talks to herself a lot and has "voices" that tell her things. Sometimes, they tell her she can't have sugar or salt to eat. After a while, they'll tell her to eat sugar or salt again. Or it may be something else entirely. Her hands move a lot, sort of like she's running an air calculator.

Last Tuesday, May 8, 2007, Willie had an early doctor's appointment in Fort Worth. Karen went along for the ride. As we were driving along I-30, she announced that she wanted donuts. I told her we needed to get Willie to the doctor first and then we'd look for donuts. No big deal. After taking care of doctor business, we set off in search of a donut shop. For some reason, I wasn't finding one.

We drove from the doctor's office on Belknap, made a left on Beach. A little over half way between Belknap and I-30 on Beach, Karen says she also wants some coffee. Donut shops usually have coffee. This shouldn't be a problem. But... I'm not finding a donut shop. This is really strange. We get on I-30 going east and get off at Oakland going south to Lancaster. Still no donut shop. I go east on Lancaster which is filled with all sorts of stores but no donut shop.

We stopped at the bank on Lancaster so that they could get their allowances for the week. We troop back out to the car and before leaving the parking lot, I get hit. Not too much damage to the car, just some scratches on the bumper and a paint smear that wipes off. I get the kid's info but I'm not real nice about sharing mine. He got my name and license plate number. After all, he drove all over me while I was sitting still and I've got witnesses.

So, now I'm ticked off and I still can't find a donut shop. No one in the bank could tell me where to find one either. I circle back a little bit on Lancaster and pull into a Sonic to get coffee for the "kids". Then we set off again in search of the elusive donut shop. I pulled into a Racetrack gasoline station thinking "these places usually have donuts and maybe we can make Karen happy with them". But, alas, all they have are packaged donuts and she wants "glazed".

I ask the guy behind the counter if he can tell me where to find a donut shop. He says, "Sure. Go back out and continue going east on Lancaster. Make a left on Handley at the light. Go north on Handley to Meadowbrook and make a left onto Meadowbrook. You'll see a CVS, a General Dollar Store, a liquor store, and then a donut shop." Okay, now I'm on a mission. We follow his directions and sure enough there is a donut shop.

As I pull into the parking lot, Karen is excited. "This is it. This is just what I wanted. This is perfect. This is right where I wanted to be." We all three pile out of the car and traipse into the donut shop.

The guy behind the counter looks up and says, "You're my sister." Now, I know he's not talking to me as both my brothers have passed on to their final reward and I'm pretty sure that I'm still alive. So, I look at the guy and sure enough he could be Karen's twin. Same height. About the same weight. Same hair (okay, her's is short and she cuts it herself while he probably uses a barber). Same eyes, except his are blue and hers are brown. The age is right, too. It's really eerie. They have not seen each other in over 40 years.

Now he is as excited as she is. He wants to know where I found her, where she lives, where she has been. I introduce him to Willie and he finds it hard to believe that she is married. He tells us that his son is being scouted by the Yankees. Karen has talked a lot about how her family was active in all kinds of sports. She talks a lot about playing football when she was younger. We thought it was just the voices.

He told her that their mother had died and that made her sad. But it also explained why her mother's phone had become disconnected. She used to talk about talking to her mother on the phone and she didn't know why her mother had changed her phone number and not given her the new number. Again, we thought this was all in her head.

And he gave her a dozen glazed donuts before we left that day. It just so happens that he owns the donut shop and he has had it for many years. It's maybe three or four miles from where Willie and Karen lived before moving in with his sister last year.

It's truly awesome to be in the midst of a "God moment". I left that donut shop, smiling on the inside. In all of this great Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex with millions of people in an area that is probably 90 miles wide by 60 miles long, it took supernatural direction to get us to that specific donut shop so that Karen and her brother could re-connect.

Particularly, when you consider that today Willie had to go back to that same doctor for his annual checkup. And about a half block down from the doctor's office guess what I see??? A donut shop!