My little red tether is my anchor in running with my friends. A beautiful guide dog has been my tether/anchor in mobility and independence for 17 years: 1. Pantera 2. Cricket, and now my beautiful 3. Georgina (Georgie). A life of family and friends is my joy and anchor in life.

The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it. CC Scott

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Some sweet stories

I am often touched by the kindness of people. There really is so much good in the world and so many incredible people.

This experience happened on our last San Francisco adventure. The three of us (all blind) were standing in the lobby of the beautiful hotel where we stayed.   In the center was a large, gingerbread castle.  We were talking about what between the three of us we knew about this structure! We were talking quietly as the conversation went something like - I can tell there are lights, I hear a sound - must be a train going around the castle, I think it is pretty tall, etc! It was crowded and people were around all the sides of this castle. One of us mentioned, there probably is a description of this structure somewhere nearby. At this point, a man standing near us had heard our conversation and said,  There's a sign to our left, if you'd like we can walk over there and I will read you the description. We walked over and he read the history of this castle made from gingerbread ... giving us the description of how many hours it took, how much sugar was in the structure, etc, etc. As he continued to read he became more involved and his describing expanded in further detail about the beautiful castle. It was a moment of connecting with someone in their kindness that I just love. We thanked him and somehow it felt like he appreciated this gingerbread castle a little more as well.

One evening during our stay, there were protesters outside of the hotel - loud megaphone, shouting, people all over the sidewalk, etc.  As we walked outside late in the evening to take our dogs out, a police explained what was happening and encouraged us that we'd be fine to walk through them on the sidewalk with our guides. We did and as we were continuing to walk, the police officer came up to us and indicated that she had decided she would walk with us to the grass. She said they weren't being too peaceful of protesters and she became concerned that they may hurt our dogs.  She walked along with us just talking and getting to know us. It was a simple, short walk but we reflected later on her kind gesture of showing such care.

Today in Trader Joe's (yay for our first store in Utah!) a woman that was passing us in one of the super crowded aisles said kindly, My father pushing my cart has alzheimers and he loves dogs. I've explained that he can't pet your working dog however, he might because he doesn't understand. With that introduction, I just wanted to put Cricket's harness down and let him as much as he would like! He stopped only briefly but I was so touched by the kindness of this woman and her interactions with her father and in helping others understand what he was experiencing.
Oh too bad this picture doesn't show what is in our cart -- such fun!  Drinks for my office holiday party on Thursday at my house, two amaryllis about to bloom!!, peppermint cookies ... such fun!

Snow is coming down and it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas :).

Another one to add:  leaving church with Cricket today, I heard the door shut and then it was soon opened back up.  A man that was leaving had looked back and saw us, he said. He turned around to open the door for us.  Then, he took the time to walk with us down the icy steps.  Cricket had slowed down and was doing good work, but it was so nice of him!

13 comments:

GOOSE said...

The world is indeed a beautiful place. And to see it through your "eyes" makes it even more so. Thank you.
Blessings,
Goose

Areeba Khan said...
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Infrequent Flyers said...

What a lovely post, Becky. A reminder that kindness doesn't have to cost anything and often doesn't even take much time. So glad your trip was good--and that you have a Trader Joe's! I love that store, but they are always very crowded, for sure.

3 labs 4 me said...

Sweet stories indeed. Restores your faith in humanity, doesn't it? Thanks for reminding us.

Retired Duo said...

Thank you. It's so nice to be reminded that there is such kindness in the world - especially at holiday time.
I love Trader Joe's. We have to drive about 35 miles to our nearest one, which is a change from California, where there was a very popular TJ's in our town. But, we make the trip periodically (note to self: do not go the weekend before Thanksgiving - like I did this year).
Merry Christmas.
Pat in Ohio

wendy said...

oh my, such touching lovely stories. Those are the things I love to hear.
I can bet you mucho buck-o's that the man describing the gingerbread house to you, will NEVER forget that experience.
That gingerbread house suddenly , and probably became CLEARER to him, with new eyes he had never used before.
How cool is that.

Donna Black-Sword said...

Ditto on what your other commenters have shared. It does give hope to hear of folk changing the course of their planned day to stop and be a part of someone else's. Everyone somehow comes out ahead, don't they? Thanks for sharing your stories.

Lisa and pups said...

WOW, that is so beautiful those experiences. I needed that today. You are such an inspirational person to see so much good and not focus on the bad! I need to be much more like you!!

Unknown said...
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Anonymous said...
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Grandma & Grandpa said...

So good to hear that kind things are happening to you, as well as the unkind or thoughtless ones!

Unknown said...

Now that post was just BEAUTIFUL! I have chills and I'm smiling ear to ear. There is so much beauty and kindness and love in the world. This was a perfect dose of embracing that! Oh, and many congratulations on your Trader Joe's - we LOVE ours! You must try there new mustard set - four different delicious mustards! And we LOVE the edamame hummus and the horseradish hummus. We also love Trader Joe's beautiful philosophy. I think that's part of what makes shopping there such a treat.