thank you

he lay on the sidewalk bleeding from his mouth and nose, with noone else around to see his misery a tear slid down his cheek. the rough rumble of a motor brings his head up and he pushes to his knees. trying to get away? trying not to look helpless? a quick look around finds his abandoned cane in the road. a swift retrieval made between speeding cars sees it set safely on the ground next to him. a quick lift into the car and a short trip down the block to his home sees him safely back to his home. a phone call to a stranger brings his son from across town in much less time then it should have taken. a hand shake and a thank you from the son a hug and a nod from the old man. back in the car and down the road to complete errands as if nothing ever happened.

i’ve been getting up on the weekends with Oly, we cook breakfast and shuffle the paper between us in companionable silence.

today our silence was broken by a knock on the door that set the dogs to barking and waking up the rest of the house. having not showered yet i rounded up the dogs and shoo’d them into the backyard while Oly answered the door. i came back in to find the son standing there with the most gorgeous vase of dahlia’s (did i spell that right?) and sun flowers. he set the flowers down and hugged me. he trembled a little and sighed as he stepped back and met my confused stare. how did he find me? it doesnt matter… he came to thank me again for helping his father. it seems he had been laying on the sidewalk for a while before i stopped. he gave me his card. it seems so surreal to have someone hand you a card and say the words… if you ever need anything just let me know. its out of a movie.. its odd… its never been done.. well to me anyway.. until now.

i’m glad he’s alright. things could have been so much worse.

namaste