**THROWBACK POST**
December 31 2014:
On this last day of 2014, thought I’d share a beautiful act of loving-kindness I was fortunate to witness on Monday. I took Thomas to Target to use the $5 gift card he received as being a part of the giving tree at school. We were on a mission to get him some much needed new socks! After getting a shiny new package of 12 pairs of beautiful white socks, we were walking to the car and passed by an elderly gentleman who had mistakenly driven his vehicle down the pedestrian sidewalk in the middle of the parking lot. He was parked at the end and, I’m assuming, was confused why we, and others, were walking towards him and beside his vehicle and why the “lane” he was in had ended.
After we got past him and made a left in the narrow pedestrian exit, the gentleman tried to exit his vehicle the same way. In the process of this, he rammed the front right bumper into the cart stall. My response was something like, “Oh my gosh!”
A beautiful, kind-hearted good samaritan had the presence of mind to walk over to the gentleman to see if he needed assistance. The elderly gentleman was really quite confused as to why he couldn’t exit the way we pedestrians had. The good samaritan gently kept explaining that there wasn’t enough clearance and that he’d have to back out the way he came.
Mr. Good Sam stayed with the elderly man for 10 minutes or longer, talking him through backing out. He stood right there next to the window and walked him every inch of the way out of the pedestrian walkway. It took me that long to figure out how to get out of this monstrous parking lot I was trapped in.
As I drove by on the street side, they had reached the end of the pedestrian walkway and it was time for the elderly man to back into the actual parking lot with cars going by in both directions. My heart went out to both of them as I drove off.
You see, I needed to witness this act of loving-kindness to help me to remember to have an attitude of gratitude. I haven’t been inside a Target since 2006 so I had no idea about the prices. The entire time we were looking at socks, I was complaining about the high prices. Upon reflection, I could have caught myself and focused on feelings of gratitude for Thomas receiving a gift card in the first place. I realized when writing in my journal Tuesday morning that I was meant to witness this and not be the one helping.
I’m grateful I got to witness one soul helping another, grateful that the good samaritan helped that man, and grateful for loving-kindness … Pass on some loving-kindness today. You never know how far it will reach … Happy, Love-Filled New Year to YOU! xoxo
