What started out as one of the worst days in Michelle McKenzie's life turned out to be the one her dream came true.
The fateful turn of events began early that morning 10 years ago when she showed up for work in Wilton. The Danbury resident was an occupational therapist, or an "eternal cheerleader," as she puts it. Her bosses brought her into a meeting to tell her she was doing too good of a job, and that they needed her to do less, to not give the 200% she always does.
Really? Yeah, that was her reaction, too.
Suddenly faced with a request to go against her philosophical and professional beliefs, McKenzie left for lunch that day crying. She cried all the way home back to Danbury, where she found solace in a sandwich and conversation with her husband, Bob.
While eating, McKenzie read through the Danbury News-Times, and came across a small ad that simply read: gift shop for sale and a phone number.
She asked her husband to call and find out about it, as her lifelong dream was to one day own a gift shop.
For years, McKenzie had picked up that newspaper and tossed it right into the recycling bin without even reading it. For some reason, she brought it in the house that day.
Turns out the gift shop for sale was The Littlest Angel in Bethel, a business she had frequented for years.
"If this is not a gift from God then I don't know what is," she remembers thinking to herself.
So she went there after work that night and met the store's original owner, Pam Greco. After a few minutes, Greco came from behind the counter of the small shop, looked at McKenzie and said, "I've found the perfect owner." They made a deal then and there over a handshake.
"There are no coincidences," McKenzie says. "I always said I was going to buy a store like The Littlest Angel. I never said I was going to buy The Littlest Angel."
But 10 years later you can find McKenzie behind the counter six days a week at The Littlest Angel, located at 27 Stony Hill Road in Bethel.
The shop has hundreds of inspirational items for all occasions, including for religious Sacraments or even "worry stones" that many parents have purchased for their children when they're having nightmares. A lot of parents from Sandy Hook have come in and purchased worry stones for their children since the school shooting in December, she says.
Others are looking for that special gift for a special someone, and most end up chatting with McKenzie about what's going on in their life -- the good and bad.
And if she's fulfilling her goal, she's "lifting people up to a little bit higher than when they walked through this door."
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