Molly Monday

Yesterday was the day of Molly. First, I found out that an acquaintance I had met at Fishy's wedding about 6 years ago (Molly) was... -drum roll please- a recruiter in Chicago. When I met Molly those many years ago, she lived North & West of me (but not in a Kanye's daughter sort of way) but apparently she returned to the Midwest a few years ago.

Amusingly enough, a handful of different times since I've moved to Chicago, LinkedIn has suggested that perhaps I might know Molly as she is connected to others I know. I've seen her face, remembered having a grand old time hanging out with her and some friends after the wedding and then went right back to whatever else I was up to. I never clicked on her profile because I remembered her living in the bay area. (*Note to self: next time I see repeated seemingly random offerings of information, it's probably the universe trying to tell me something!)

Without further delay I contacted Molly with a request for job search help but also just to catch up. I've yet to really make a network of friends in this city that aren't somehow connected to my fiance. It's not that I don't love and appreciate her family and friends. They're brilliant, truly. I'm just used to having my own circle of people. These days whenever I call up a friend to discuss life, liberty and the pursuit of cute shoes, they are out of state. There are no coffee dates, 2 beer conversations or 2 am runs to fast food Mexican restaurants. I'm not sad, just recognizing an area for growth and change in my new Chicagoland existence.

While the potential of connecting with Molly is fantastic in many ways (and as my mother pointed out the result of choosing to walk in faith instead of fear – yes, my mom reads my blogs. She also thinks I'm special and pretty. She Has to. ;)) that isn't quite enough to dub a day Molly Monday just yet. Part 2 came when I was out for a walk with my beautiful dog.

I needed to mail a letter, via snail mail and so we took a walk several blocks over and took a street that we've never walked before. About halfway in between the post office and our apartment is a beautiful rose garden with a fountain and big grassy lawn. The second that I saw it, I was longing to ground in the grass, smell the roses and (hopefully) let GK take a nap without accosting any strangers. I quickly made it to the mail box and then headed back to the garden.

It was very peaceful, fragrant and felt like the most beautiful respite from the job search process. I could just feel all desire to be anything but in the moment slipping away. On the lawn were a mother and daughter having an afternoon picnic. Evelyn was 6 and happy to show me her gymnastics skills after a few timid attempts at petting GK. She was very engaging and innocent in that way kids have of seeing the entire world as a playground full of friends. I sat and chatted with her and her mother, Molly, for nearly half an hour.

I enjoyed meeting Molly a longer time resident of Evanston. We talked about what brought us to Illinois and our families and it occurred to me that quite possibly I have met another potential friend of my own. I didn't ask Molly for her contact information because that just seemed awkward but I did ask if she came to the garden frequently and she replied that during the summer she did and hoped to see me again.

I don't believe in coincidences, so the fact that both women were named Molly just strikes me as the Universe saying, “Be calm. All is well.” Well, that and “Molly Molly bo bolly banana nana fo folly me my mo Molly.”