A Tap on the Shoulder at 30,000 Feet

I’m boarding a flight back to Israel after nearly a month in America — I hadn’t even sat down yet — and a stewardess looks at me and asks, “Are you Brad (BD) Greenman?”

My first thought: this can’t be good.

Then she starts telling me — she remembers my brother, my cousins… and then she says it:

“I was your babysitter.”

I must have been about five years old.

Growing up, my parents and my uncle — my father’s twin brother — lived on the same street. My family has two boys. My uncle’s family has a boy and a girl. And to make things even more confusing, both of our mothers were named Judie. So whenever my parents called to arrange a babysitter, the question was always:

“Which Greenman? Which Judie?” Maybe my brother and I were a little challenging for most babysitters.....

And once the babysitters realized it was for my brother and me…Suddenly everyone was busy.

“I’d love to, but I have to wash my cat tonight.”

And yet — here I am, decades later, not even in my seat yet, and this woman recognizes me while I’m boarding a plane. Out of all the people, in all the places.

That’s not random!

That’s chesed from Hashem. A small, personal reminder — “I see you. I remember you.”

Sometimes the pat on the back isn’t loud. It’s just a moment like this… if you’re paying attention.

Grateful for that reminder.