Thankful for my “Tribe”

There are people I “know” who I’ve never met. Although we have not met in person, we have followed each other, talked on the phone and “read” each other’s work. Over time I begin to feel like we are friends. I have no idea if they feel the same, but I hope so.

Two such people are Donna and Dara. They are the brilliant women behind Modern Mah Jongg. I can’t remember what my first interaction was with them, but right off the bat, I felt like we were on the same page about many things and I liked them very much.

Today I had a lovely phone call with them. They called to give me a heads up about something I appreciated knowing from them. The timing of their call was perfect, because I had an upsetting situation happen yesterday and I was able to ask them to weigh in on what happened.

Donna and Dara are mah jongg teachers too and they also happen to be Jewish. As a gentile Mah Jongg teacher I always tell my students about how we owe American mah Jongg to the wonderful Jewish women in NYC who created the National Mah Jongg League. So when I have a question that needs a Jewish mah Jongg expert’s perspective, Dara and Donna are my go to’s.

It is nice to have a “tribe” and be able to get honest feedback back from people whose honesty and integrity I respect. Somehow the universe knew I needed to hear from them today and they happened to call me. They did not know I needed them. It’s funny how that works out sometimes.