Somewhat Shaken

I had an interesting experience today. I still don't quite know what to make of it.

Zoë and I did some shopping today at Costco and since it was lunchtime when we finished, I grabbed a hotdog for us to share. We found an empty table, sat down and proceeded to eat. At the table to our left there was an older man sitting there, leaning back against the table. He was just sitting there and didn't have any food or purchases with him. I looked over to see him handing a little girl a balloon animal. When he saw us looking his way, he looked at Zoë and asked "Would she like one?". Zoë nodded her head shyly and he proceeded to pull a balloon out of his coat pocket and quickly make her a purple teddy bear. We thanked him and smiled, with him smiling back with a gleam in his eye, then we finished our lunch. I couldn't help but think that the man reminded me of my favorite uncle who passed away two and a half years ago. Because he was sitting alone at the table with no food, a couple came along and asked if they could share his table, to which he replied, "Of course. I'm just waiting for my wife." Since we were done eating, I stood up and said "We were just leaving. You can have our's if you like." We gathered our garbage and went over to our shopping cart, which was about five feet away. I turned back towards the man to smile and say thanks again, still thinking how much he reminded me of my uncle.

And he was gone. As in, vanished.

I couldn't believe my eyes and actually blinked rather purposefully several times, not believing what I wasn't seeing. I turned in a full circle, scanning the entire area for the man, who couldn't have gone far in the 30 seconds that had passed. He wasn't near the checkouts, he hadn't gone up to the food counter, he wasn't heading for the exit. He was nowhere. Even as I frantically searched for him, a little voice in my head said "You're not going to find him Kate."

I'm still not really sure what to make of it. Was it my beloved Uncle's spirit? Or a weird coincidence? I don't really know. But today I was reminded of how much I loved him, how much I miss him and his bear hugs, and how anything is possible.