My days are getting all out of order. A lot has been going on. This one is from Christmas Day. I wasn't here for this one either. This is Ted's experience that he told me about last night before we went to bed.
On the bus from LaQuardia airport on Christmas Day, with my niece in tow, Ted watched an interaction between a man and a woman, strangers up til that point, as the bus wound through Harlem. He was at first struck by the friendliness, the sense of togetherness, the "Christmas spirit" if you will, on a random bus on Christmas Day.
A lady got on the bus who had two teeth missing right in the front. She was bedraggled, most likely homeless. She sat down quietly. At the next stop, the woman who had been chatting stood up to get off. As she passed the homeless lady, she handed her a wad of cash and said, "God bless." The homeless woman then said, "I already have been blessed. God bless you and your family." Then she cried. She sat there on the bus and cried.
Ted cried too. He said that he wishes he had more of these impulses to bless others, to give love away, to be generous, to be community-minded. We hold on so tightly to what we have. What if we went through life more open? Open-minded. Open-hearted. Open-handed. Freely giving to our neighbors.
This is what Ted saw on a bus in Harlem on Christmas Day.
7 comments:
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I love NY.
And now I've cried. I bet the giver has no ideal how many ppl she blessed with that gift.
that is one to remember...and one to repeat.
From where I sit you are already amazingly community-minded and generously blessing others. I know you are talking about more and I concur. Here's to taking it to another level in the new year. xo, Heidi
thank you
And this, after catching up on the Rooney family's goings on, is my ...favorite New York Moment.
Thanks for the reminder to "live open-handedly," as Mark has been reminding us on the weekends here at CA.
Love you, miss you, my friend.
colleen
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