Walking Home

Last week I was having breakfast at my favorite spot.  It's a little out of the way cafe with outdoor seating.  There was an older man with his small dog sitting at the next table and we finished our meals at about the same time.  He commented about what a nice place it is and I had to agree.  This segued into him telling me a little about his life.  How he'd been in the Air Force stationed in Alaska.  He told me about what it's like to live in Alaska and how his son lives there now.

How long the conversation went on, I'm not exactly sure, 10-15 minutes, perhaps longer.  It was my day off and I had a full to do list waiting for me which I easily could've excused myself to get to.  But another thought prevailed in my head.  This guy is someone's dad and I have a dad who has no trouble engaging in conversation.  And somewhere, at some point, some kind stranger, or acquaintance or friend has chatted with my dad when I'm sure he/she had a to do list to get to.  As I drove away that day I kept thinking of a quote I'd seen by Ram Dass.

A conversation I long ago overheard between two co-workers has always stuck with me.  One was in need of a ride to pick up his car from the garage and he was looking for someone that lived near there so as not to be an inconvenience.  For the co-worker I heard him ask it would've been somewhat out of her way but she said she could run an errand in that area and would give him a ride.  Not wanting someone to be put out in any way, he tried to decline and what she said still resonates with me all these years later.  "We've all needed a ride somewhere at some point in our lives, it's no problem."  What a simple truth.  In the little moment it was a ride, but in the big picture, it was helping a fellow human being get home.

A kindness extended to someone else's dad is a kindness extended to my own dad.  A ride given to a colleague is a ride given to us or a loved one somewhere down the road.  Though our paths may vary greatly, we are all here doing the best we can to live each day to the fullest and on any given day a kindness we extend to another is a step toward walking each other home.