Amazing things happen

This is not an ad, its part of my story, really

Doing what I do, there are times nothing feels “normal”, everyday is an adventure and I never know what is around the next turn.

I came to learn that the US Military created a benefit for active duty families who suffer a death prior birth to allow for them to have enough money to have a respectful burial. I learned about it from one military family but got specific details from another. I also learned that it was retroactive back to 2008. There are specific gestational age/weight / documentation requirements, but for those who qualify, SGLI pays them $10,000.

Once I saw the list of requirements, I did an inventory of who I thought might qualify so I could tell them about the benefit and one specific couple came to mind. I was busy the rest of that day, so calling that lady stayed on my “to do”  list.

So I ran from work to get started on my “mom to do list” to get my daughter to dance class on time. While she was at dance, I would go to the Mall & hit the Estee Lauder counter to get my “gift with purchase” so that I could get me some fancy lipstick.

Daughter was safely at ballet and I headed into our city’s worst traffic, in the rain in the dark to get to the mall. Do I need lipstick this badly?  Never stand between middle-aged woman and her Estee Lauder gift with purchase. I didn’t care about the rest of the Mall, I only needed to get to my favorite  Estee Lauder counter.

After triumphing through the traffic in the rain into Mall and to my favorite Estee Lauder counter…guess who is the very woman holding my very lipstick in her hand?

We saw each other and both gasped…she didn’t expect to see the nurse who cared for her daughter any more than I expected to see her and she was less expecting me to tell her that I had it on my list to call her and I guess she would have never ever guessed that I needed to tell her that she was due to receive $10,000. (It was a gentle blessing to get this news from someone who knew well that she would MUCH rather have her daughter alive than a life insurance benefit).

There are about a quarter of a million people in our region…in living the unusual, would it surprise me that I would smack right into the one I needed?

(Post script, she and her husband did receive the Serviceman’s Group Life Insurance benefit and they were later transferred out of the country, so she doesn’t  sell me my lipstick anymore. Please post in comments if you want more information on the SGLI benefit)

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