A few months ago I had two tickets for a meet-and-greet with the New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter. I’m a huge Yankees fan, so you can imagine my excitement at being one of only ten people to be there! I planned on taking my eight-year-old son. The day of the event he behaved so badly that I had no option but to threaten not to bring him to meet Derek Jeter unless his attitude changed! His response was, “I don’t care. I met him already, anyway.” Being sassy was not the right tactic. I gave him a time-out and then called my husband to tell him what had happened. We both wanted our son to attend this special event, but we knew that it would send a bad message—that there were consequences for bad behavior except when something really cool came up.

When the time came to go to the stadium, I asked around my office to see if anyone wanted to meet Derek Jeter. Unbelievably, I couldn’t get anyone to come with me. I thought about asking my husband but I was afraid we’d spend the entire time feeling miserable that our son wasn’t there. I decided to go alone. I didn’t want to drive, so I took a car service. From the highway, I made phone call after phone call, but nobody was available! I started to wonder why I was even going. He had just broken up with Minka Kelly. What if he thought I was hitting on him?

Completely consumed with my self-created anxiety, I made myself stop! I took a deep breath, looked up at the sky, and asked my greater good to help me. I realized I was not being loving toward myself. I took another deep breath and calmed down; I let go and let God. I looked at the driver. “Andrew,” I said,  “this is your lucky day.”

Once I arrived at the event (and, yes, Derek Jeter is even cuter in person!), I felt uncomfortable and stood at the edge of the group. Finally I mustered the courage to get a baseball signed and we started chatting. I told him what had happened with my son. Derek looked at me and said, “Wow. That boy must have been really bad!”  I told him that when you’re a parent, you have to make some difficult decisions.

After we took some pictures and Andrew got a baseball signed, I noticed two people standing behind me. I wasn’t sure if they were a couple or related, but they spoke to Derek for quite a while. The woman seemed to be crying.

When it was time to leave, I waited in the vestibule while Andrew got the car. I looked up to find the same two people sitting next to me. We started talking and I told them the story about my son. The woman responded by assuring me I was a good mother and understanding how hard it must have been for me to stick to the rules and consequences. She agreed that I did the right thing. Then she told me that she was there with her son on the anniversary of her husband’s death. They’d come as a tribute to him because he’d loved Derek Jeter. The woman went on to say what a difficult time her son was having.

I shared a story with them about my father, who had passed away nine years earlier. I told them that I could still feel his energy, and that if they keep talking about their loved one, they would keep his spirit alive. I even suggested they look for little signs that we might ordinarily miss in our everyday lives. Somehow right there in the vestibule of Yankee Stadium, the three of us bonded and no one else existed beyond that time and space. I managed to bring them a little peace. The mother could not thank me enough.

When it came time for me to leave I got up to hug them, and the mother turned to me and asked my name. I said, “Rose,” and all of a sudden she started crying again. She looked at me and sobbed, “That was his favorite flower. All he ever bought me were roses, only roses, the whole time we were married.”

I smiled at them and said, “There you have it. He is here with us now.”

Whenever I remember this story, I still feel that beautiful, deep sense of peace and love—an amazing and unintended gift to have given someone. I guess my son wasn’t meant to have gone after all.

Rose Caiola
Inspired. Rewired.