Angels in our Midst

Every once in a while someone does something really kind for no attention, no applause, just doing it because it's the right thing to do. When I was a young twenty something I was swimming across the lake at Lumden's Dam, a man-made lake near our home. An older couple in a row boat insisted on staying with me the whole time in spite of my youthful protestations that I was fine, I was strong, I could do it by myself, the silly stuff you say when you are young and immortal. They very kindly brushed off my "thanks really, I'm okay" and rowed with me and possibly avoided a tragedy. My mother would shoot me if she heard this story, she always told us to swim along the shoreline and not across the water.


Several months ago I was in a situation where I had to leave the house quickly and get to a place where I had to sit in the car and wait. I was really really thirsty and to my amazement a man, a fire fighter, knocked on my car window and handed me a bottle of water. How did he know? It was 2:30 in the morning.


Yesterday Mike and I took our newly minted eighteen year old daughter to the airport to fly by herself to Japan. As we hovered in the background and watched her check in I noticed that the woman behind the counter leaned towards Allie and smiled at her in a truly genuine manner. I could tell from the woman's body language that she had just processed the fact that this young girl was flying around the world by herself. This simple, subtle act of kindness actually broke me up a bit (well I was feeling a bit fragile anyway). 


Acknowledging these angels and others is important for me as I work on developing a sense of gratitude and gratefulness.