Lonely People

I was in a small jewelry store yesterday. It’s a quaint space that I’ve been frequenting over the past couple of months.

The owners are nice and there’s a French bulldog that trots deliberately around the store—as if it’s his—and the trinkets they carry and make are always tempting. I have yet to walk out of that place without buying anything.

Usually I am the only person there or there’s one or two other people browsing alongside me. They are almost always related. Mom and daughter. Two best friends. Sisters.

When I walked in yesterday, there was a chatty blonde woman talking to the very pregnant owner. Judging by their conversation, she had already been there for awhile. (She was talking about her wedding day with great familiarity.)

I browsed slowly, taking my time to carefully look at each earring and bracelet, sniffing every perfume and candle. I retraced my steps and took a second look at the things I was considering.

I was moving at a leisurely, intentional pace, and this woman talked the entire time.

She talked about her kids and her plans and doled out parenting advice to the expecting couple.

Then, she gave the owners a small gift, which I could not see, but it was engraved with a message that “made her think of them.”

You would have thought this woman was an old family friend, the way she talked to them.

I finally settled on a small gold chain bracelet, checked out, and left the store shaking my head (right around the time when the woman started complaining about Fauci and the government and how “these stupid things don’t actually do anything,” while poking at her mask).

Shortly after which she said, “I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but my husband passed away from cancer not too long ago.”

And I realized, again, how much we all carry.

And how lonely so many people are in this world.

So while we certainly don’t agree on face masks and oversharing with strangers, I can recognize the feeling of just wanting to be heard by someone, if only for a half hour in a small jewelry store on a Saturday.