The kindness of strangers, subtitled: People who need people.....

I have seen some wonderful acts of compassion in my travels along the various paths.......

in this case, this person appeared quite suddenly out of the brush behind some quite nice houses in the city. He didn't come from an 'obvious' path to the house (some have them), so I was thinking hmmmm, I don't know that he belongs in one of the houses, and what is he up to.....I was pretty uncomfortable following him; hoping that he didn't stop and turn toward me, as the path was pretty isolated.

Not long into the journey, a young man came up from behind me, walking. I kept stopping, and doing quite a bit to indicate that I wasn't really comfortable with my friend ahead. Eventually the young man passed me and my 'friend', but as he got just past, he turned and walked backwards, keeping us both in view until I took the 'exit ramp'.

A few days before that, what appeared to be a grandmother, grandfather and couple of grandkids passed me on bicycles. They crossed a major street, and the woman stopped to make sure that the kids got safely across the street. The kids then passed her, and they and the man went on quite a ways ahead of her. She got back on her bike, but almost immediately fell, and did not quickly get up. I was about to run up to where she was to see if she needed help, but the people with her came back. What I saw next was even more endearing. As I turned to head back down the path, a construction crew was on my side of the 4 lane street, seemingly on a break, and one of the young men, who appeared (yes, I do label) Hispanic, had also started walking toward the woman as if to offer aid, and stopped when he saw the others approach, but continued watching until it appeared that she was OK.

The third example is one from a couple of years ago. I was on another path in an isolated area and there was a man who appeared as if he might be homeless (had a bicycle and a bag) and somewhat older, who was half sitting, half lying on a concrete structure about 18 inches high. His legs were on the ground, and he was lying on his back, as if he'd started in a sitting position and then had fallen or laid back. I was concerned and trying to decide whether to ask him if he was OK, or what to do, when a young man come toward me on a skateboard. He was rather preppy looking for a skate boarder, so that caught my attention to start. He passed me and the man lying down, but then stopped, and came back, carrying his board. He walked up to the man and asked him if he was OK. This was before I had my camera, and one of those times that I wished I'd had one, to capture this beautiful example of humanity, with these two men appearing quite different in station and age, in conversation.

On this day after an historic election, may we continue to remember each other's humanity, and find the ability to work together in concern and care for one another, our children, and our children's children.