I leave for Barcelona today.
Naturally I had about a million errands to run. I was nervous and stressed, and going 100 miles per hour. I had forgotten about the joy of my upcoming adventure and was letting my last few hours at home slip away.
Comfort came in the form of kind words from the most random of places, my dry cleaner.
My dry cleaner is one of the kindest and most hard working people I have met. He knew that I was going abroad and saw that I was stressed, so he told me about how he came to America in 1979 not knowing anyone or any English. Now, he has a thriving business, a daughter with a masters degree and a son in industrial engineering at Northwestern University.
Then he smiled at me and said, “Be brave. Learn a lot. And know that God is always with you.”
I think I’m ready now.
