Jamie Thomas was about to change her life when a piece of fruit told her everything was going to be all right.
She was 45 years old, had five children and was facing a huge move: leaving Belfast, Northern Ireland, to settle in Catterick, in North Yorkshire. In the same week, she was also getting married and starting a new job. Deep down, her doubts wouldn’t leave her in peace.
Then came her lunch break. As she peeled a clementine, she saw a silhouette in the flesh: a “little man” who, on closer inspection, seemed to be hanging from a cross. Jamie says she was stunned. She and a colleague laughed and came to the same conclusion: it was a sign that she was doing the right thing. She took a photo of the freshly peeled fruit and sent it to her friends on Snapchat.
The decision to move had a long history behind it. She met her husband, Daniel, who was 48, when they were teenagers, and they were “best friends” for a long time. They didn’t start dating until 2014, and then spent nearly four years in a long-distance relationship, traveling back and forth to see each other. In 2018, she made the “difficult decision” to move to be with him.
Jamie grew up in Northern Ireland in the Church of Ireland and was religious during her childhood. Today, she says that over the years she has become a little more of a believer. She doesn’t go to church, but she believes in God. And she acknowledges that, in that very chaotic moment, the “sweet” discovery gave her exactly the comfort she needed.