Some Observations

Last week on my way to the grocery store, I saw a woman in her mid-twenties with her hair pulled back in a pony tail, wild wisps fraying out in all directions. She was smoking a cigarette on the front stoop of her apartment building. Her little boy, a boy of five or six with a shock of brown hair and cute face, stood with her, holding her ashtray for her. This made me profoundly sad.

That same day at the grocery store, I overheard a woman talking to her daughter in front of the meat case. She said to the little girl, "It's times like this when I'm glad you don't look anything like me." Again with the profound sadness.

Then, I was on a walk with my wife in the park, and we saw this man, sharply dressed and with a bright smile, walking with his son, a cheerful and boisterous little imp. They were pulling a wagon along and appeared to be truly enjoying their time together, bonding like father and son. This time, joy that such love still does exist in the world.