And I Thought of Betsy

Life presents lots of little opportunities to make your neighbor's day just a little brighter. This week has presented several.

My son locked himself out of his car Sunday evening. I went to "help" him. He'd hoped to jimmy the lock himself and so I hesitated in calling the locksmith who had rescued me a month or so ago. I shouldn't have hesitated. I ended up calling in the end, but not before my boy, in a moment of frustration, gave the tire a good swift kick and injured his foot in the process. (He said he forgot he wasn't wearing his steel toed boots.)

Yesterday I stopped in Wegman's for a salad on my way to the pottery studio. I followed an elderly couple out of the store. He pushed a small cart with a few bags and held her hand as she toddled/shuffled along beside him. Out the door, through the entry, and into the parking lot he held her hand. He never let go. They stopped beside a little blue car parked in the handicapped area where he opened the door and attempted to lead her into the car. She resisted, not wanting to leave her cart of groceries.

My two years spent in the memory care unit have left me a little braver. I stepped toward the gray haired couple and said to the man, "I'll stand with her." I took her hand. He smiled and said, "She wants me to put these in first." He loaded four small bags into the hatch of his car while I held the hand of his sweetheart. She smiled at me me, put her head on my shoulder, and kissed my cheek. "I think you must be a honey," I told her. She smiled again and hugged me, and he said, "She is." And then he thanked me, took her hand and gently put her into the car.

I left a little speechless and headed for the pottery studio.