one happy moment

Yesterday after school I had little time to go and buy myself a new pair of shoes. The heel of my spring street shoes had come loose in the morning, I had to wear winter boots, and with a dinner in the afternoon and a trip to Helsinki the next day, the window for shoe shopping was abut forty five minutes. It would make sense to have more pair of shoes but shopping for them is often a pain and buying even one pair is an achievement for me.
I galloped off school with a bank card and phone in my pocket. I left the bag at school, so the weight of it wouldn't slow me down.
Half way to the shoe shop I met a parent of a preschool students and we politely chatted about the student-led conferences happening today.
I had to wait behind a red light.
I continued walking as fast as I could towards my destination.
In the bus stop I spotted a tall and lean young woman with long blond hair, in a brown leather jacket and blue jeans, reading on her phone. I would have recognised this woman even if I had seen a fraction of her. This was my oldest daughter who lives in town. I slowed down and stood shoulder to shoulder to her, or almost, because I am shorter than her.
She lifted her eyes, smiled in surprise and then gave me a tight hug, "Happy Birthday! What are you doing here?"
"I broke my shoes and have to buy a new pair right now, because dad and I will have dinner later, and tomorrow I leave to Helsinki. What are you doing here?" I gave her a quick account.
"Coming form work, going to dance lesson. And here comes my bus. It was good to see you. Bye!" and off she went.
I continued to the shoe shop, entered, scanned the room, found one ok pair, tried on, got a bigger number, paid, and came out. In and out in less then ten minutes. The whole trip done in thirty minutes.
New shoes are good, but the short encounter was the best moment of the day, a beautiful happy unexpected birthday present for me.