Editor’s Note: This story takes place 2 years ago and involves someone I am no longer friends with. However, I do not regret the kindness I showed them, nor do I think we should regret loving people who hurt us, or regret being kind to those who don’t return it, because your character and karma define you, and theirs defines them. You never know the impact you are going to have in someone else’s life that you showed compassion or kindness to. Since this story takes place in the past, for all intents and purposes I will refer to her as my friend.
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We have all heard the saying “Ask and you shall receive,” and in a world that values instant gratification, i.e., Amazon next day delivery, and door dash delivering our orders in 30 minutes or less, it can be hard to recognize when the Universe is conspiring in our favor. The events that I am about to share took place about two years ago. The synchronicities and experiences I believe was divine intervention, however a religious person may view it as a “miracle,“ a conspiracy theorist may believe it to be “a glitch in the matrix,” or for a muggle it just might be a coincidence. However, I have learned and truly believe that the more open and receptive someone is to receive signs, or messages from the spiritual world, the more they will receive or be able to recognize and appreciate them.
A friend of mine was in the process of moving, due to some extenuating circumstances. Like all moves, this was nothing short of stressful for her. Before she had packed everything, she decided to have a yard sale to make the move easier and downsize before taking everything to her new place. Wanting to be a supportive friend I offered her some folding tables to borrow for her garage sale. She accepted my offer, and we set up a day where I would drop them off and pick them up.
It was September 11th, 2023 and the sun left the air warm that evening in Michigan. I was on driving up Woodward on my way to my friend’s house to pick up the folding tables that I had loaned her. My husband was irritated that I went out of my way to deliver and pick up the tables. His argument was “if she wanted to borrow them, then she could have picked them up and dropped them off when she was done with them.” However, I knew my friend was going through a hard time so I wanted to give her one less thing to worry about and make her life a bit easier if I could. Because of all the stress she was going through, I also wanted to cheer her up by surprising her with some chocolate for her on the way there. I wanted to pick up 3 chocolate bars, one for my friend, and 2 others for her to share with her daughter and husband.
On my way up the express way I noticed a homeless man with a sign. On one side it read “SMILE,” and the other side read “HUNGRY.” I decided when I picked up my friend the chocolate, that I would also pick up something to eat and drink for the homeless guy as well. I see a Walgreens and imagine them having the exact amount and kind of chocolate (Lindt Oat Milk chocolate bars) that I wanted to get for my friend. I decided a long time ago that I will remain authentic to my vegan lifestyle by buying vegan items for my friends even if they weren’t vegan 🙂 I envision the sky-blue wrapper, and gold writing on the wrapper of 3 Lindor oat milk chocolate bars on the shelf. I also thought I would write a love note or inspiration quote on the outside paper of the chocolate bars in a sharpie marker. Something along the lines of “thinking of you.”
As I am driving, I am grappling at the center console and surrounding areas in my car where I normally would keep my extra pens and realized I did not have a sharpie in the car. I took the next Michigan left (Michigan’s version of a U-turn) and turned into the Walgreens and decided I would ask the cashier if she had a sharpie I could borrow to write a note on the outside of the chocolate bar.
I go to the candy section in Walgreens and find on the 3 stocked Lindt Oat Milk chocolate bars left, 1 plain, 2 salted caramel. I was excited at how perfectly that worked out. I also grab a chocolate chip cliff bar and some snacks, and a juice box for the homeless guy outside. As I get in line, I notice the line behind me growing. I wanted to ask the cashier if I could borrow a sharpie to write on the chocolate bars, but my social anxiety kicked in and I didn’t want to inconvenience the other customers waiting behind me, so I decided not to bother the cashier with such a request and just checked out.
Once I was back in the car with my chocolate bars and food for the gentleman with the sign. I made sure they were in separate bags, so I didn’t accidently give the homeless guy the chocolate bars I got for my friend. As I turn on the car, I start playing one of my favorite songs from my playlist; “Shine,” by Collective Soul. The sun was still out and for some reason I felt endorphins starting to radiate throughout my body. It is truly difficult to be in a bad mood on a warm Michigan day.
I left the Walgreens parking lot and while driving I started looking around the car for any pens deciding that it’s probably better that I don’t have a sharpie like I had originally wanted, because I wouldn’t want the ink to bleed into the chocolate. At that exact moment, I felt something fall on my head and roll down my back. I was wearing my sunglasses on top of my head, and whatever hit me in the head felt just as light as my sunglasses, but my sunglasses still remained on my head. My windows were rolled down, my sun visor was down blocking the sun, and my sunroof was completely closed.
I do the Michigan left and I don’t remove whatever rolled down my back by lower spine, and I figured once I hand this guy his food, I would maybe then grab it and figure out what it was, but I didn’t want to squirm around while driving on a busy road. Then I start slowing down and put my hazard lights on for the person behind me, so they know I was going to stop. When I reach the homeless guy, I stuck my left arm out the window and gave him the bag of food. I was mindful to fully extend my full arm outside the car, so he doesn’t reach in my car when I stop. He says, “thank you,” and as I am leaving, I take my right arm and reach around my back to see what it was that fell on my head, and it was a sharpie marker. I swear over my life! It blew my fucking mind! I have absolutely no idea where it came from. I started to replay everything that had happened in my head and started to wonder if; when I gave the guy the food, if he accidently dropped the sharpie marker that he used to make his sign on my head when taking the bag, but no that would have been impossible. I had my arm fully extended outside my car, his arm never went in my car, and I felt the thing hit my head way before stopping for him. I was utterly gobsmacked.
Unable to figure out what just happened I continued to drive to my friend’s house and ultimately decided it was better to write a notice on a separate piece of paper and place it with the chocolate instead of writing on the label, or outside of the chocolate bar. I must have been at a red light or near her home, and I grab my day planner looking for a piece of paper. I flip towards the end of the book looking for scrap paper and start flipping towards the last week of the year where it’s the holiday season and I don’t make plans around that time anyways and I tear a piece of random paper that had an inspiration quote at the top of the page that read “Trust in the magic of beginnings,” which is a quote that I was familiar with and posted on social media the year before when I was going through a hard time. I never really noticed or paid attention to the fact that there were even quotes at the top of the pages because I have always been so focused on the calendar and obligations and notes I would scribble in the daily boxes. But it was the perfect page to write a message to my friend on, because again she was in the process of moving. I wound up writing “Keep following that big heart of yours, and everything will be okay. Love, Danielle.”
For me the synchronicities that happened in such a short amount of time, I was not able to chalk up to coincidences. The chocolate bars at Walgreens that I envisioned, able to feed the homeless guy, the sharpie, the music that woke me up inside, the sun, the inspirational quote on a scrap page. I was just in a profound state of shock and gratitude and when I spoke to Lisa (my spiritual teacher at the time) about this, she said all that happened because I was doing “god’s work.” I am not really religious, so I didn’t fully grasp what she meant by that, but I think that was referring to helping and feeding the homeless guy. However; in hind-sight don’t think it was just him, at the time I think I was in a high vibrational state with the music, enjoying being in the present and being able to do something nice for my friend, while doing multiple acts of kindness I was rewarded with the sharpie when I was looking for one. And the sharpie wasn’t for me; it was so I could write a note to a friend. It was a selfless ask, actually I wasn’t even asking for it. It was just given and what I was so beyond grateful for was the ability to experience that magical moment and to be able to recognize when the universe communicated with me and wrote back.
I hope if anyone takes away anything from my experience, they learn not to just do for others when you can, but do it without regret, do it with sincerity and authenticity, and when life gives you small wins, please recognize them because whether it’s spirit, god, the universe, magic, signs, divine intervention, or even if it feels like a coincidence, it’s reassurance that you are on the right path. 