Meet Mary Jane

In today’s world of disconnection, a simple act of kindness far outweighs the pretense of intentionally ignoring the needs of others, in order to become “uninvolved”. To make the world around us a better place is a simple task — one that belongs to all of us.

America deserves better, and those who struggled, fought, and died to make this the “land of the free” deserve better. Getting involved matters!

When my wife Debbie goes to the barn a few nights a week, she will occasionally drop me off on Main street in the charming village of Cazenovia. There, I begin the hour walk that gives me an opportunity to keep in shape, mend my mind, and (most importantly), the opportunity to meet someone new.

Recently, as I rounded the corner onto Lincklaen street, I saw a woman standing next to a “snazzy” red automobile. She stood looking into her car as though she had lost something. Her front seat was filled with a box of beautifully designed silk flower arrangements; which I later found out later, that she gives to anyone who can’t afford such beautiful pieces for the gravestone of a loved one. She had just come from putting a single fresh flower on her husband’s headstone. Her well-behaved dog sat in the back seat.

I asked if she needed help and she replied that she had lost her cane. I asked where was the last place she remembered seeing it. She acknowledged it was at a church at the end of the block.

I fetched it for her and never got to go for my walk that night. Lucky for me, and if you ask Mary Jane, she would say the same goes for her. Before I left, I told her that the time we spent together was a chance encounter that I could write a short story about. I have already begun to write it. It will be a beautifully touching story, and I’ll let you, my readers, know when it’s available.

For now, all I can say is that it was a chance meeting that changed two people’s lives forever. Don’t wait to take that opportunity, and If you get nothing more out of life, be kind, be careful, and above all — be yourself.

Blessings,