It was a punishing cold rain falling on me on a fall day in 2013. I was walking on Farmington Avenue in Berlin, Connecticut . I had just left the Final Stitch tailor shop where I had picked up a garment that needed alteration. Now I was walking in cold penetrating rain to get under cover and get some lunch. Amazingly, a car stopped and the passenger side window rolled down and the driver, the sole occupant of the car, asked me if I needed a ride. I was surprised that this happened. I peered into the vehicle, looked at the driver, and hesitated for a few seconds in confusion about what to do. The driver encouraged me to accept a ride with a blend of warmth and assertion. I got into the car and turned toward a beautiful young brunette woman who was at the wheel. She was very warm and pleasant. I had been rescued. She asked me where I was going and I said that I was going to have lunch at Bill's. On the way she was so warm and caring in the way that she talked to me. I was touched. She drove me the short distance to the plaza where the restaurant was. I thanked her for the ride. I told her “You are a wonderful person.” She replied “Thank you”. Then I got out of her car and went inside to have lunch.
In the month's that followed I thought about her many times. I thought of being rescued in miserable circumstances. I thought of how trusting and courageous she was letting a strange man into her vehicle. I thought of her wonderful heart that went out to someone in need. I wondered what role she had in life – if she helped people in her work. She remains in my mind as an example of how courage and compassion can transform a situation. In a cynical world that mostly chooses to attend to personal gain I was blessed with meeting a person who is a refreshing change. That lifted the human spirit in me. I felt better all day. If I could tell her I would say to her how important her humanity is to the humanity in all of us.
