the power of a moment.....

what an odd memory popped up on my walk today.

i was an elementary school aged kid, riding
bikes with my parents. my parents were riding
a little bit in front of me, but i could hear
them talk and see them real good.

we rode by an african american woman who seemed
like she was maybe 20. she was standing at
a bus stop deep into the neighborhoods.
wasn't a main spot.

we lived in a pretty much all white neighborhood.
wasn't til high school when i finally saw a few
african american families move in. and this was
in the end of the 60's prolly, maybe really early
70's.

we rode right by her and i saw my dad look at my
mom with a concerned look on his face. there were
some guys that had gone by and were still visible.
my mom looked at my dad with equal concern and told
him that she saw tears in the young woman's eyes.

so we turned around. and stopped.
they checked in with her and my dad offered to stay
with her while my mom and i biked home to get the car.
then they'd take her to a place where she could catch
the bus faster....

the part i most clearly remember is the moment where
my parents looked at each other with concern and then
decided together to turn around and help.

on my walk i was grinning, thinking of this young
woman standing there with my dad. my dad could be
incredibly crotchety, eccentric, and ornery...and yet,
he had this amazing ability to be charming and to
do exactly what needed to be done at times to make
everyone feel at ease.

really an odd combination. and i know he kicked in
and did good.

while that was the fun part to think about...
i realized that the part that i wanted to really
look at was the impact that loving act had on me.

i still remember it.
and i think what was so strong about it was that
they were totally totally on the same page with it.
no hesitations between them.

that was unusual for my parents. there were usually
different outlooks on most things...even tho one
would support what the other said, you still knew
that it wasn't totally unified.

i think the very fact that this was so solidly
agreed between was the thing that burned that into
my memory.

i doubt anyone but me remembers this.
my dad is gone. i'm pretty sure my mom doesn't
remember it. and i doubt the young woman does either.
maybe she does....

i think tho, that was a pivotal moment for me...
helping others is right. it's just what you do.
i'm sure i learned it all the way thru, but i doubt
anyone had any idea how important that moment was
for me. or why.

how many moments are like that?!
we sure know the bad ones! but there's so many
good ones too.....

the power of every action is something we forget.

and it's something i'm remembering this morning.....