never know who you're going to meet

Last day of  the Antique extravaganza.  I am in the front selling stuff and giving  out necklaces to little ones as that walk by.  A little girl walks by with her Daddy/Grand dad, not sure which.  I ask him if I can give her a necklace.  She is in jeans and sparkly shirt and vest with a tiara on her head.  She walked over and looked through all of the colorful  beads and picks out the silver one that matches her outfit,  I told her she had good taste and that her ensemble was coming together nicely.  She grin,  looked pleased and told me thank you.

In the back Mark was dealing with a tall striking lady with short perfect hair  and sun glasses.  She looked so put together, her ensemble was perfect....I did not make the connection.  Mark sold her  a punch bowl and asked me how much we could take off of her second punch bowl.  They struck a deal and I went back to work in the front.

  I heard the lady  scream from the back, " Mark Fleetwood".  I looked back to see Mark hugging this beautiful lady.  She took off her glasses.  I realized that this was Jenny Fleetwood, Mark's first cousin and a child hood play mate. Back then , she had long brown hair.  Because Mark's Daddy had died over thirty years ago,  they had not seen each other  in decades.  Her daddy was Mark's daddy's brother and the man Mark was named after.

 The customers were watching this family reunion.  They talked  for a while, catching up on family news. I could tell that Mark was stunned.  Jenny  told us that we would have been even more confused if we met her with her daughter.  Because,  after her children had grown up, she and her husband had adopted a little girl from Haiti   Her family  walked up,  it was my little girl with the perfect ensemble. She gave her "new"  cousin Mark a  High -five.   I told her that, now that were we kin folks, she needed to pick out more jewelry.  So, while the adults talked, she picked out an orange  bracelet and necklace that matched perfect.

  We exchanged information, Jenny  called her sister to tell her and we plan to see each other in February.