So, what I was going to write about Wednesday before life so rudely interrupted that night. Let the one-handed hunt and peck begin.

Earlier that day I did a quick Target run that required I look for things at the far opposite ends of the store.

And that is how I ran into a mom with two kids in one of those huge red double-decker-ish carts with multiple seatbelts they have there.

She was highly stressed. Her little guys started to whine and cry, and they were all spiraling.

It didn’t help that here was this weirdo lady who’d stopped right there in the aisle and was fishing through her tote bag, almost in the way, and what on earth was that about.

(Pink, no, c’mon, boyish!)

There–two finger puppets, both of them white and black. I offered them to the mom.

She was speechless. She was thrilled. Her boys picked right up on the change and were suddenly quiet, watching–and then sitting up and happy as she handed them each one.

Did you MAKE these?!

No, women in Peru did, I confessed as I turned to go.

Wait! Are you–? She didn’t want to ask the question in a way that would sound presumptuous and was struggling for what to say because this was all so not what she was prepared for.

Merry Christmas! I grinned back over my shoulder.

Got to the checkout. Of course I picked the line that took forevvvvvver. Man that guy was slow.

When suddenly I was glad I was still there. I pulled my cart out of the line to go to another mom who was also struggling not to snap and her baby was fussing.

She was adorable.  About a year old. The pink flamingo got its moment.

A head suddenly popped up from the seat at the lower front part of the cart, a toddler boy with blond curls curious as to what was going on.

Oh! You’ve got another one! as another finger puppet came out. When this mom asked, I explained about the women being able to put food on the table and everybody wins. Happy Birthday! (Which is how I try to remember to always say it–everybody has birthdays.) I told her, I had four kids in six years.

Oh! So you know!

OH yeah! I grinned.

Back to the line.

But this time my attention got called back by three voices: the mom’s, the little boy’s, and a waving baby giving it her best try: “Thank you!”

And ever since, I’ve wondered if those two moms with the two little kids each and identical mom-carts saw knit finger puppets on the other kids’ hands and became instant friends right there in the store.