I'm going to say it straight the fuck out, if you don’t see how the universe is working in your favor your stupid. I don't want to insult people that’s not what I'm here for, making people recognize what's going on around them is.
My story: A few years back a guy I was dating a guy named Raul. He informed me that jet blue was having a 1 day sale to select cities for $31 dollars but only for the 31st of October. While he was trying to find coverage for work I would figure out where we would go in between my clients. I was working at a The Blo Bar in the upper east side as a Blow Boss. (Head Stylist) This seemed like a great deal I didn’t want to miss out on and asked him if he's heard anything from his partner mid day. Raul worked as a correctional officer in Upstate New York. He was limited on who he could trade his 16 hour shifts with, he said there was no answer from his partner, so I said fuck it I'm going on this trip with out him. Who's missing out on this opportunity because they can't get their shit together …not me!
He and I weren't serious and trying to get away together didn’t seem like that great of a plan anyways, we were on the road to no where, it was time to expand my horizon and go on my own.
I decided to book my self a trip to Puerto Rico but there was an error when trying to book it. I tried two more times no luck there. While trying three more times on my Ipad again I had no luck. Mind you I'm trying to do all this before my next client walks in the door so I don’t get too busy and forget about it or miss out on being able to book because of limiting seats. I asked the receptionist if I could use the computer in the front desk to book this trip and she gave me the ok as long as I was quick so she wouldn’t get in trouble. Did I mention it was a one way for $31 and that I would still have to get a returning flight at some point but I wasn’t worried I had time to get a returning flight I was still 6 weeks away. Again Puerto Rico was a no go, I tried my cell phone my IPad and the shops computer and still got an error message. I said fuck it I'll just go to Florida and see my grandmother. I really needed a vacation I wanted time to my self and didn’t want to deal with family obligations. With the reminder of wanting to get away I decided to go to Miami Beach instead. I'm still in the same state as my grandmother if I wanted to see her but far away from everyone else to enjoy my self. Can I tell you it booked with no fucking problem on the first try, I was shocked and took it as a "maybe I should be in Florida".
A few weeks later I had my hotel and returning flight booked. I was ready for my trip. I asked my cousin Hanna to come spend a few days with me so we could have a mini girls trip. We planned for her to drive down and stay with me at my hotel. I saw it as a win win situation she has a car and would drive us around and I would have my cousins company . It's now Saturday the 31st I've been booked all day also its Halloween so it’s a busy day for hairdressers. I was planning to go from work to the airport my bags were ready. My cousin Hanna was to meet me in Fort Lauderdale and drive us down to Miami where she was partying with her friends. Once in Miami the thoughts of New York were far behind I was only thinking about brunch and the sun the next day. We got to our hotel around 3 am after picking up some water and snacks we slept a few hours and was up and ready for Brunch. Her best friend Crystal joined us being that she lived in Miami a few years back showed us around even taking us on a bike tour around the beach. Later that evening my hotel was having a Happy hour for the hotel guest which meant free drinks. I had stopped drinking a few months back for personal reasons and this was my first time drinking again I didn’t want to get drunk but I wanted to enjoy my self on my trip and limited my self to 2 drinks.
Around 7:30pm while enjoying the hotels happy hour I receive a call from my sister who was in New York at the time, she said that my grandmother wasn’t feeling too well and that I should pay her a visit. I told her that my Grandmother would be fine and that the last time she was sick I was the only one who rushed down to be with her for a few days and she pulled through. My sister insisted that I should go and I reminded my her that this was my first ever vacation and my mini girls trip I just wanted to enjoy my self. I just wanted to be selfish and told her to withhold any more bad news at least to wait till I got back home.
The next day around 8 am Monday my God mother Hanna's mother calls informing us that grandma isn't doing too well and that Hanna should come back early. Hanna asked me if I wanted to go back with her and I declined. Telling her Grandma is strong woman she'll pull through she's the strongest 94 year old I know. Also I still had a few days left to my stay and didn’t want to lose my money for those days. I worked hard to save up for this trip and I didn’t want to miss out, and if anything I will rent a car and drive over to see them.
We went for some Cuban coffee and some croquettes for her step father who was from Cuba and loved the way they made coquettes in Miami. After breakfast she drove off towards Cape coral which is about a 3 hour drive from Miami. I went shopping around for a beach bag and headed to the beach to start the rest of my vacation alone. Not even 10 minutes at the beach and I get a call from my sister crying. She started yelling at me about how I was being selfish and chose to stay in Miami instead of seeing my Grandmother. That I knew she was going to pass and that's why didn’t I go to back with Hanna to see her. I told her I couldn’t talk and had to get off the phone she asked why and I said because I'm at the beach right now and I don’t want to cry by my self at the beach like some crazy bitch. I now have to change my flight and tell my boss what just happened. By this time my cousin has been on the road for about 30 to 45 mins and I didn’t want to make her turn back to get me. I wanted to be back to my hotel any cry my eyes out. I had to act like an adult and figure out what I was going to do next. When I got to my room house keeping was cleaning and in fear of letting someone see me cry I ended up going to the roof deck to cry and make a few calls.
My first call was to my boss Emma who didn’t like me for what ever reason. I informed her that my grandmother just passed this morning and that I would have to stay in Florida a few more days till the funeral. She jokingly asked if I was just trying to extend my trip, I informed her that this wasn’t a laughing matter I wouldn’t kill off my grandmother to stay longer. I would rather quit and never come back to work. The nerve of someone to think something like that, I told her I would give her more information once I knew more. I spent the rest of the days just watching tv in my room and ordering room service occasionally going out for a walk to the beach to try and enjoy my mini vacation that was hit with a family tragedy. All I kept thinking was what if I was to go to Puerto Rico how would I of been able to get here and be with my family? That’s when it hit me, that’s why I kept getting an error message that’s why it didn’t book my trip to Puerto Rico. I wasn’t meant to be in Puerto Rico I was meant to be in Florida at that point in time. Wednesday was the last day of my hotel say my God brother Nelson and his wife Delma who lived about 45 mins away in Fort Lauderdale volunteered to pick me up and drive me up to see the rest of the family.
On the Drive up Delma mentioned how lucky I was to already be in Florida when this unfortunate event happened, I told her it was fate. "I was meant to be here," I explained how I was originally trying to book my trip to Puerto Rico but I kept receiving an error message on all the devices and said "Fuck it" let me just go to Florida.
My mother and a few other family members had arrived earlier that day to my Godmother's house, where my family usually gathered when in town. Close to 100 family member came to my grandmothers funeral that Friday.
My Grandmother had saved up money for anyone and everyone who didn’t have enough for a flight to come see her at her funeral. That was one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard of. She even had set up to have a whole Bob Evans rented out for the whole family to eat together. My grandmother was a woman who loved her family and wanted to see them happy. She was raised in a poor country didn’t know how to read or write too well, but was able to travel the world and be graceful in her manners. I love and miss her so much and I am glad I was able to spend those days with my family in her honor.
That moment in time opened my eyes and my heart to the beauty of how the Universe does everything for a reason. Since then I have kept my self aware of the possibility of how things work in my favor. Anytime I worried about a private client double booking me. One of the clients would change for an other time before I even had to ask and at the end I would just laugh because I worried for no reason. Now believing that even missing the train or not catching a bus on time is because I wasn’t meant to be there at that moment. As a New Yorker you naturally get mad when you miss a train and think you're going to be late for work. But what if your late and when you get there find out that the person you had an appointment with arrived after you, its like fate in on your side.
How many times have things worked in your favor?
Give the Universe the benefit of the doubt things that you think are not in your favor, might really be in your favor that’s the lesson you later find out in life. Open yourself up to the opportunities that are out there.
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