I was reading

an article in the paper about 6 year old Emilie Parker, who was killed in the Newtown, Connecticut school shooting a year ago.

Her mom is quoted as saying that she clearly remembers her last conversation with her.  To quote from the article:

"They were in the little girl's bedroom, looking at the flowers painted on the wall.  Emilie pointed to a pink flower with and black center and a black flower with a pink center.  She was excited.  'Mom, we need to talk about what I learned.  Don't you see?  It's a connection.  Connections are everywhere; everything is connected.'"

Her Mom says she has been living the power of unexpected connections in the year since Emilie died.  She said the concept that so tickled Emilie has become a running theme in her life.  She has forged so many connections with people and causes since the tragedy.

I'm a big believer in the concept that we are put in certain places at certain times to fulfill certain needs.  We may never even know the need or the connection were are fulfilling.  I've heard the analogy of life being like a tapestry, with us only seeing, being, and weaving a very small part of it.

At this busy holiday season, I've been doing lots of "busy" things.  But, on Sunday I made a goal to try to focus on being more aware of those around me and doing more "random acts of kindness."  As I've been trying to be more aware, I've had 3 different random people approach me and ask me questions.

A girl in approached me in Walmart and said that she was raised LDS (Mormon), but that she was now Catholic.  She was showing me some religious stickers she wanted to put on some glass for her boyfriend's mother (who is a Mormon).   She wanted to make sure they were phrases that were used in the Mormon church.   They were all scriptures, so I told her yes, that they were all good.  

Then yesterday an older gentleman approached me at Costco and asked if I knew where the cottage cheese was.  He said he was nearly blind and didn't know where it was and that he wasn't even sure he could see it. I directed him to a different part of the store.  But when I saw him still wandering around, I found the cottage cheese and took it to him.  He gave me a big hug and was so appreciative.

Then there was another person who asked me a question, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was.   But it was random, too.    

I guess my point of sharing these random experiences,  is the observation that once I opened myself up to being more aware of people around me, it would seem that they became aware of me as someone they could approach.

As little Emilee said,  "Connections are everywhere; everything is connected."