This happened on the way from Clearwater Beach to Tampa Airport while being on the way home after an international conference. Ian and Mildred, an English-Irish couple, offered to take me with them from the conference hotel to the airport since our flights were almost at the same time. We started early from Clearwater Beach, in the car they rented for their stay, so that we had some time to spend in one of the big malls in Tampa. We watched some skaters skating gracefully with music and later decided to go and do some shopping. But we thought that we were looking for different things, so we decided to split and meet later at some point. Mildred and Ian went in the direction they’ve chosen and I wondered about thinking where I should go next. I must have looked quite lost because a shop assistant approached me and said: “If you are looking for your parents, they are over there”, pointing towards Mildred and Ian. We all three loved this very much and didn’t separate anymore until we said our goodbyes at the airport. Since that day Ian and Mildred are my surrogate parents and our friendship received a special and sweet parents-daughter flavor to it.
