Sunday, June 22, 2014

Quiet Kindness on a Street Corner

"What we all have in common is an appreciation of kindness and compassion; all the religions have this.  We all lean towards love."
Richard Gere

A woman I know sometimes helps out a gentleman who collects money on a street corner that she frequently drives by.  The gentleman dresses in fatigues and has an ID badge from the Veterans Administration.  He collects money, but he sometimes asks her for water or for something sweet.  Although she is not sure whether he collects money for himself or for a veterans' organization, she tries to be prepared when she sees him -- sometimes she will give him money or a gift card or something to eat.

On a recent weekend, this woman and her family were on their way to dinner at the home of friends.  They were running late.  As they drove by an intersection, the woman saw the gentleman in fatigues and pointed him out to her husband, but they were already past him.  Although she did not ask him to do anything, her husband made two U-turns, so that they could slow down and drive by the gentleman in his fatigues.  As the woman was searching for a $5 bill in her purse, her husband gave the veteran $20.  The woman smiled, grateful for her husband's kindness.  And they continued on -- even later -- to the dinner. 

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