<em><strong>Kindness</strong>. Kindness, one could say, is one of the ways love paints itself on the world.  An act of kindness can be imprinted on our lives and impact us for years to come. In honor of this season of love, I remember moments of kindness. And in remembering I notice the impact of kindness in the past still emanating and touching me.  How will you engage kindness today? </em>

<strong>Wheelchair Key</strong>

The wheelchair was the golden key. As old and sketchy as it was, fake brown leather on the back and bits of rust on the handles, showing its years of living in the Elks Club basement—it was the golden key.  It was the key that let us through the entrance, around the bock side of the stadium, past the line of people wrapping around the block.  

“Right this way ‘mam”, the guard said as he unhooked the barrier and waved us through.  

“To the left and to the front row of the second level”, the usher pointed us to the area where wheelchairs and their pushers could see. 

Where we could see Candidate Barack Obama speak. The wheel chair was the key. Or was it kindness?

The kindness of the friend who offered to take me, a woman who had been severely ill, still struggling to stand up to shower, to the one outing she’d had in months that didn’t involve a hospital or a doctors office. The kindness of a friend who was willing to turn around and go home at any time if I needed to. A friend who put her desire to see our future president aside and did what ever she could to get me there.  

Her kindness was the key. 

<strong>A Rose</strong>
A long stemmed rose. 
From a grinning four-year-old.  
On Mother’s Day. 
To one without children of her own.
Transported through the aisle of the church, 
Clutched in his little hands, 
Offering love to a
Mothering presence in his life.  


<strong>One Hug</strong>
It was time to leave the local potluck. I’d been brave. Having lived in a new city for only a week or two, I’d shown up at an event where I didn’t know anyone and proceeded to meet many. 

I reached out my hand to our hosts, Bob and Carol, a lovely older couple with salt-of-the-earth souls.  

“We hug in this house” said Bob, and embraced me with my first Richmond hug.  
