on how Craigslist can sometimes bring "angels" to your front door

this past weekend, we had big plans, oh yes we did.

we were going to clean out the attic, and sell some stuff, and re-arrange the furniture, and basically simplify, simplify, simplify, now that i have decided to stay at home with emma and not work full-time.

but, then along came a little earthquake earlier in the week,
and some travel interruptions,
and, then, a hurricane.

it was actually a tropical storm once it hit our region, but folks in our little part of the world have a tendency to use big language for all weather (and other) things that transpire in our area -  partly out of geographic boredom (we just don't have volcanoes or mountains or oceans or regular storm-related nuggets to talk about around the water-cooler) - and partly out of a bit of self-importance. we are the nation's capital after all. and, by virtue of that, we are important people to whom important things occur - or so some perceive.

so, as i said, an earthquake, then a hurricane. some trees fell, some electricity temporarily lost, some plans were changed.

and, some clutter remains.

we did manage to move a lot of stuff around and identified what we intended to sell via Craigslist - something we'd never tried before - and then we sat there. all weekend. waiting for people to come. people who called and emailed and offered down payments and swore that they'd be there, irrespective of the weather.

yet, most never showed - they'd either changed their mind or couldn't because of weather concerns.

so, we spent a lot of time staring at the walls and the clutter and keeping emma's crawling/play space cordoned-off from the rest of the house so she wouldn't come across pieces of a bedframe or a bench in her path.

but, then, on sunday as the rain passed, we received an email, then a call, then some texts from some folks in North Carolina who wanted to purchase some of our larger items.

they drove five hours to retrieve the furniture.

they called or texted to give us their ETA every hour or so along the way; they didn't want to disturb our young child's naptime.

and, then, when they arrived after a harrowing drive, often stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, 

they came with smiles, and handshakes, and a present for emma.

they said hello to emma and told us about their family and how they have worked with folks with special needs. they talked about emma's muscle tone and asked about her verbal and phsyical progress.

they did this without ever knowing about her diagnosis before they came (all they knew was that we had a young child whose nap schedule was fairly precious these days) and with a gentle, open, inquisitive kindness that we sometimes don't find among family, much less strangers.

can you believe?

they purchased the furniture, packed it in their truck, and gave our little apple cheeks a wonderful gift that was not only developmentally appropriate for her, but also particularly useful at this stage given her current physical and speech challenges. 

after all of that, they offered us the use of their home if we're ever in North Carolina.

they were genuinely some of the nicest people i've ever met, period.

they extended community to us.

and, they were strangers from craigslist.

i am still in awe.

has anything like this ever happened to you? please share!