Grateful for what seems to be a pattern as of late...each time I do my grocery tour and/or other errand runs, I meet at least one other wfpb vegan consumer by chance. It's like they're coming out of the woodwork. lol It's about damn time. I look forward to being able to say, "There's one in every crowd." :)
Today, it was after complimenting each other on our choice of wardrobe, then mentioning how much we liked this new store, but how it was such a pain in the ass to get back to it thanks to the 3 fast food-like substance joints planted at the entrance with absolutely no other way around.
That's when she mentioned (without knowing my personal preferences) she is a whole food plant-based eater, feels better than ever, and said having to drive by/smell all that stuff made her feel like a former crack addict having to go through the crack house to get to where she needed to be. I know exactly how she feels. It's like she read my mind. lol
We ended up talking for about 20 minutes and when I told her my story, she hugged me, told me how proud she was of me, encouraged me to keep loving myself fiercely, and was crying tears of joy. Ha! My own family didn't even do that. Thank goodness she wasn't wearing perfume or used scented laundry detergent when she snatched me up. lol What a powerful heartfelt exchange.
Grateful my in-vironment is expanding in that direction, currently. I really needed that. Contributing to what felt like death in my former "deathstyle" habits of over four decades makes it really hard to learn how to comfortably navigate the actual life in my lifestyle now. Just when I think/feel all hope is gone, it pops back in for yet another visit to boost my desire to keep on keeping on.