Thursday, July 1, 2010

Little Kindnesses

There are many kindnesses in this world, and I just so happened to be in the right place at the right time to witness one today.

I was sitting in my car in the parking lot of the local hotdog eatery, eating my dog and drinking a Coke, reading The Mosquito Coast. A woman pulled up behind me in her dented and rusted car. Very quietly, without any fanfare, she got out of her car with a bag and a small glass. She walked right by the side of my car, went into the branches of the huge Oak tree in front of me, bent down for a while, and then started walking back to her car. I noticed she had a bag of cat food in her hand.

Earlier, I had commented to my husband, upon his return from ordering our food, that I had seen a lone cat cross the road, go into the branches of the tree, hang out there for a while, then came out and crossed that same road in that same spot, walked up the stairs to the apartments, and vanished. I had wondered what had made him cross the street.

And now I knew. As this woman walked by our car to get back to hers, we started talking. This woman has been coming to this spot every day for the past three years just to feed the hungry. The “hungry” being this one cat. She also brings water.

She was not much to look at. Her hair had not seen shampoo in a while. She obviously needed a trip to the dentist. Seemed lonely. Just a lone and lonely soul in the midst of a crowded world who had connected with another lone soul.

Somehow, she found a way to buy cat food in order to bring nourishment to a little cat that she thought was “skin and bones” three years ago. And she has made a commitment to come every single day.

What have I done to help feed the hungry? Every day. For three years.

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