Late this afternoon, I decided to go out for a short run. I wasn’t feeling completely motivated to do this, but as I looked out my windows, I noticed the sun. It is exhilarating to me that the sun is setting later and later as each week passes, and today the sun was glorious as it began to make its descent in the western sky. Ribbons of pink and blue and purple clouds filled the late afternoon sky… and I thought, “OK. Just go do it.”
I headed down a hill in my little town… down where a frozen harbor seems to be resting, waiting for the spring, when the people come back to sit and talk and laugh in the many restaurants and bars. It was quiet. In the distance, I could see a figure heading toward me. When we passed each other, I noticed that the figure was a man… maybe in his 30’s… and he wore a tattered beige coat and grasped a bottle wrapped in a brown bag. I nodded and said hello as I passed. He seemed surprised, put his head down and hurried on.
I thought about that man as I continued my run. I wondered about his life. His story. His journey. I wondered where he was going. Where he calls home. Who may be there waiting for him. He was such a stark contrast to the color of the golden sun as it seemed to be saying, “Good night.”
I ran longer than I had anticipated, and as I headed back up the hill to my home… I saw the man again. I actually had time to wonder if I should say hello this time, but something happened that made all the difference in my life. As we approached each other, his gaze met mine and he gave me a gigantic THUMBS UP. Both thumbs. One hand still wrapped tightly around that bottle in the brown bag.
Maybe as I was thinking about him and his journey, he was thinking about me and my journey. We seem to be traveling on different paths… but that spark of humanity lit my soul. I smiled at him and said, “Good night.” He smiled back.
This little moment is an affirmation of the divine that lies within each one of us. We are all connected. We need each other. And each of us has great meaning.
I hope this man knows his…
That’s so beautiful, Sharon. I love the idea that as you were thinking about his journey, he was thinking about yours. Clearly YOUR spark of humanity lit his soul as well.
This is a beautiful post, Sharon. I often think about the people that I encounter on my journey and wonder about their story. I wouldn’t be surprised if you were a bright spot in his day. I wonder how many people he’d passed this week who wouldn’t look him in the eye because of the brown bag clutched tightly in his hand, people who wrote him off because of his tattered coat. You are so right, we are all connected and sometimes a smile and a simple “hello” means so much.
I have to go grab the box of tissues now….This was a precious post and to think you really wasn’t motivated to set out for your run. You amaze me grandma! I do often think about strangers and what their life is like. Please help me get motivated to get back on that treadmill this week. Chew me out or say something that might light a spark under me! I know, I should do it for my family and my health depends on it. I really need you Sharon as my coach….How much do you charge? to crack that whip?
You are such a beautiful person, inside and out, Sharon. I wonder how many people walk right past that man and do all they can to avoid looking at him?
I love your site. I am very happy I came across it. I too am a grandma to nine. Six boys and three girls. I blog about being a mother, a grandma, and everything else that fills my wonderful life.
Please visit.