Sometimes, do talk to strangers!

Your fairy godmother may actually be a Chinese man who lives in Malaysia working on human genome sequencing, so stay alert.

This is D's story, not mine, but I hope she and her Angel Man don't mind my sharing. They are further proof of my God's Army theory.

You know the feeling: the Bad Thing, the Unexpected, the Trauma has happened. Your mind is a whirl. You are rattled to the core. Depending on how you personally process it, your stomach might be churning, maybe tears are streaming down your face. This always seems to happen to me right before I have to get on a plane, and so it was with D.

She was sad, and it showed. The prospect of a long flight stretched out before her as she battled the sadness and badness. Business class on this airline alternates seats, facing opposite directions so that each seat, separated by a low wall, can stretch out so the passenger can lie flat for sleep on a long flight. The man across from D opened with an unusual introduction:

"I'm sorry to bother you, but from the moment I saw you I felt that you had something to teach me today."

(Cynics, stop yourselves. This is was not a come-on, as it turns out.)

Sometimes it is easier to talk to a stranger, especially when your troubling circumstances are still new and undistilled (having time to spare and manageable proximity on a 6 or 7 hour trans-Atlantic flight is conducive too). So D, feeling wrung out, shared her story with the stranger. He was delighted to find that this day was actually his opportunity to be the teacher. He offered advice, but more importantly, he gave loving kindness.

He declared that the situation demanded Champagne; they sipped as they talked. He asked the flight attendant for extra blankets, so D could sleep comfortably. He insisted that this was the day to break the diet and eat ice cream. He talked about his family - his wife and three children - and his joy in them, wishing such joy for D. As they deplaned, he gave D his blessings and good wishes.

The problem remained unsolved, the sadness lingered, but he had said, "you need kindness today," and he gave it to her. A gift of compassion is one we should accept (Cynics, take note). Remember to keep a watchful eye for your fairy godmother/father. I hear s/he flies Coach when required as well.