When God Winks

My grandmother taught us there are no coincidences when we consider why close friends and neighbors come into our lives.

“Your higher power placed them in your life for a reason,” Granny reminded me when I mentioned odd behavior by close friends or neighbors. She called them God’s winks. “Pay attention to them and you may learn something,” she said.

I thought of this recently while digitalizing photos from an old scrapbook. I had turned a page and discovered the note I wrote describing my long-ago neighbor.

“BJ was barely five feet tall and weighed less than 100 pounds. She had few visitors and rarely ventured outside the house, so she didn't trouble herself with wearing dentures. When her gray hair grew into wisps that blew into her eyes, she cut it with utility shears. Her scowl seemed equally divided between each adult, child, dog or cat who ventured too close to her door.”

Writing about our first meeting, I described, “standing on her doorstep holding a foil-wrapped plate, I wondered if ringing her doorbell had been the right decision. After she opened the door, I babbled a few words and offered he…