a rather odd coincidence

I attended a wedding brunch this morning for a good friend of mine. I had been invited to the brunch by the bride and groom, so the invitation was really just a formality. I was told that it was being hosted by the groom's godmother at the house of a family friend. When the invitation arrived a week later, it just sat on the dresser. I never actually looked at it. If I had, I might have realized that it was at the home of one of my former professors.
Following the long, winding, mountain like roads, the leaves are just beginning to fall, we pull down the drive way arriving at this beautiful house neatly tucked into the woods of Chapel Hill. Upon walking into the house, there she is, with as much presence as ever. Her home, just a larger version of herself. Oliver, her poodle, greeted us with his wiggling cotton ball tail, roses adorned every table, and the smell of antiques filled the air. Everything felt just as it should be, as if it always was and always would be.
Some professors seem so professor like, she was one of them. So together, such a professor, you never think of them as being normal and having a life. It's not their impersonal, or on a pedestal, they just have so much knowledge and authority over their classroom, it just seems like that's where they belong. Seeing someone with such a great aura was like discovering what lies behind the curtain.

Last night I was having a conversation about people, socialization, and perspective. Our experiences shape the way we view people, and therefore the way we interact with them- if we are willing to invest some hope and faith into people, we are more likely to see that most everyone has something to contribute, a grandparent's wisdom, a child's knock-knock joke, a parents nagging, a loved one's praise. Our words have a tremendous ability to impact others, and our actions have even greater impact- what impression are you going to leave others with?

You never know when you'll run into them again...