Sometimes in life, we find that when we are most confident that we are headed in the right direction we unexpectedly, but precisely at the perfect moment, are alerted to alter our course.

As I rode the commuter bus through Krakow’s center still fashioned with the adornments of the holiday, my thoughts went back to a Christmas forever ago. It was a quiet evening as I flipped through the channels looking for the countdown to the ball drop. Instead the remote stopped on a different square, and in contrast to the rollicking jubilee in NY city, an older man wearing white was walking with a metal staff in hand, up a flight of steps.

He was in Rome and as he approached the enormous doors before him, he knelt, lowered himself head-to-ground and kissed the stone threshold. As I took in this foreign image, something deep inside me ruptured. Mysterious, ancient tears welled up, escaped their captivity and flooded down my face. Impressed upon my soul was the ascertained knowledge that this man was father; I belonged to him. And then came peace. Hello, 2000…

Hello, Google maps. Where you been?  Wifi arrived twenty minutes into my ride and although I don’t read or speak Polish, I was pretty sure I was on the wrong bus. Without any discretion but with many apologies, I shoved my phone in the face of the stoic but (to my great joy) friendly local, crammed next to me. He informed me that my gut was right but the bus was not. On cue the doors screeched open. I jumped off. Within two minutes I was on a direct train headed toward my destination, the John Paul II Center, Krakow. Thank you, Providence.

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