I walked a bit further on the train platform and realized I never go past a certain point. It was like a whole new world. My invisible edge was made 3 years ago when I would bring my toddler by stroller to work with me. That stopping point leads to the door to the train car that perfectly aligns with the elevator of my arrival station. I no longer use the elevator because my little guy has been in preschool for nearly 10 months. I do still find myself at the exact same spot every week. So today I walked a few steps back to my invisible line and looked up across the track at the train pausing before departure on the opposite journey of mine and saw a lady smile at me.
She was familiar.
The memory clicked into place: Every Thursday, waiting on the platform with my little guy, a train approaching on the opposite track, the gestural communication between him and the same smiling elderly lady in the opposite train.
Every Thursday without fail, there is also a man who stands paces beside me in the unchartered territory. We have exchanged zero words or even glances. Our distance makes us close enough to psychologically acknowledge each other's existence but no need to start up a conversation. This is actually not anti-social. I like to feel like we have our own comfort in knowing the other will be there on Thursdays and wonder if he notices the balance is off when I go away on vacations and disappear for a few weeks. I sure would. If he suddenly stopped being there I would wonder if he was okay perhaps feel a slight shift in my ease.
There are so many people around me I take for granted. We may share smiles with familiarity but have no need for small talk or to read each other's stories. These people add security and a sense of order. A feeling of connectedness that two people ritually, seemingly coincidently share a common space.
As time changes and molds my world a prayer and gratitude to those who are unknowingly, unfailingly, peacefully always there.
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