Heartwarming

I had a very heartwarming experience over lunch today!!

I had been writing a batch of snail mail letters yesterday, but hadn't quite finished them all. i headed down to the fyxx to address them, intending to mail them before going back to work. so, there I sat at my table…sandwich and yerba mate... letters, envelopes and postcards spread over the table. (kind of like in this photo... though not quite so messy).

I sat writing out peoples addresses… using my big roll of packing tape… closing them up... licking stamps. just the final touches. :)

someone walked by.. noticed me there… noticed the table. stopped and stared for a minute. then he approached me and asked if he could look at my envelopes. I said sure. I watched him as he carefully inspected every envelope, front and back. oh, what a photograph it would have been. he was fascinated. asked how long it took me to write them all.. that he loves letters, but it takes him so long to write them. after looking at them all he said to me "your friends sure are lucky." that's when I told him that he could add his name to my little address book and that I would send him a letter too. you should have seen his face light up… like a five year old boy on christmas morning.

there was something so pure about this guy. something I am having trouble formulating into words. a quality about him though…. a simpleness. a gentleness. he looked at me and said eagerly "I'll write back". i watched as he carefully took his time writing his name and address in my book... Dandy. he had such a childlike nature. he walked away with a smile on his face and I know I certainly had one on mine. so easy to touch someone's life I was thinking. him touching mine. me touching his. so very easy….

when he went back to his table to join the others, I thought i recognized them as the squeegee kids that sometimes hang out at the corner of river and donald. and I am hit again with the realization that we should never judge people… never judge a book by its cover. to look at them… I know people would make assumptions… the mohawks… the ripped pants… the dirty clothes. and I think how everyone has a story. and maybe…. just maybe… I will soon understand more of the story of Dandy. :)

i stopped at the mailbox on my way back from lunch. i counted the letters as i dropped them into the mailbox.... fourteen. and i thought how i had just touched fifteen people's lives. such a wonderful feeling.

love julie