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When my neighbor, Naomi, was in her early thirties, almost all of her childhood friends were already married with several children.
After 10 years of looking for a husband, Naomi resigned herself to the sad possibility that she would never get married. She comforted herself with the thought that the children in the nursery school where she worked would be a replacement for the biological ones she would, it seemed, never have.
When she turned 33, Naomi’s brother recovered from a serious illness and their family made a Seudat Hodaya, a party to thank G-d for his return to health. And at that party, Naomi had a brief conversation with a woman she had never met before.
A few days later, that same woman was speaking with a friend of hers. Their conversation rolled around to the topic of the tragic abundance of older singles.
The woman who had met Naomi sighed: “Just this week, I met such a kindhearted older single woman. 33 years old with a beautiful smile.”
Her friend sadly responded, “Yes, it’s beyond awful! I was just at the bank this morning. There is such a nice man who works there, also in his mid-thirties. Come to think of it, he also has a nice smile.”
The 2 women looked at each other…
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Yes!”
B”H, a few months later, at the ages of 33 and 35, Naomi put on the wedding dress of her dreams and married the guy with a lovely smile from the bank.
And 6 years later, this woman who thought her nursery-school kids would be the only children she would ever care for, is the overjoyed (and blessedly overwhelmed) mother of 3 kids with a 4th on the way:)
May Hashem bless Naomi, her husband, and their growing family, always, with happiness, health, and neverending nachas.
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