Stories

We had just finished filling up our rental car after two fun filled weeks in the northwest with family.  Weeks filled with rich food, warm fires, presents, movies, etc. everything that denotes a rich and blessed life. As we pulled out of the Costco parking lot to head to the airport I noticed a sign across the street,  "$5 bags of Oregon apples".  As I looked at the bags lining make shift tables and the old station wagon parked at one end and the shadow of the one who owned it visible only for a moment as we drove by, I was struck with a twinge of sadness. It came again as I stood waiting at our gate to board our plane home. I watched as a man probably in his mid to late 40s walked across the airport. He was dark skinned and looked like he came from the South Pacific. He walked with a staggered gate maybe due to a birth defect or an illness later in life - twinge of sadness. 

I don't know why but there are times when I witness the hardships of life the really touch me in a very soft place within. What are these people's stories?  What are their lives like?  How did that person come to be selling bags of apples outside a Portland Costco?  Is it a side job or their main income?  Why does that man walk with a limp?  Where was he traveling to?

People and situations like these pull at me much more then a beggar who stands on one of our local street corners. I guess it's because they aren't asking for sympathy but simply living their lives and I get to witness it.  I get to make up their story for myself. 

In my youth we would often visit local nursing homes to provide service. I always had a love/hate relationship in doing this. I often had to fight back tears as I interacted with people who I knew had had a rich and meaningful life but were now put in a home -  forgotten.  Their whole lives crammed into half a bedroom shared with a stranger. People who because their bodies, and sometimes their minds, were failing them were now pushed away from society as if the process of aging or failing health was a bad thing. 

People -every single one of us  - are so important. Our stories are worth so much and such an important part of the giant book of life. I hope all of us remember that this new year. I hope we all take moments to learn the stories of those we love and maybe some of those we don't even know. It can't help but enrich our lives as well as those we learn more about.

Happy New Year!