Category: Your Stories

  • Musical harmony

    The man who lives across the hall in my high-rise apartment building is a retired cellist. He doesn’t play professionally anymore, but he teaches or plays at events when it suits his schedule. When I’m coming and going out in the hall, I sometimes hear him playing through his apartment window. As he came out…

  • Little moments matter

    I was walking down the street in my neighborhood when a friendly, older man asked me if I had a moment to answer a quick question for a writing class he was taking: “How do you find meaning in life?” After some thought, I responded, “Finding pockets of joy in the quiet, little moments of…

  • Good neighbors

    For several years, I’ve had many issues with my legs and walking. My house is on a hill, which makes it difficult or impossible to walk down to get my mail or move my garbage cans up and down my driveway on trash day.  My across-the-street neighbor is aware of my difficulties. Without being asked, he takes…

  • Shared Humanity

    There’s a gentleman that camps out near our local grocery store. I’m not sure if he’s unhoused or just suffering from some mental challenges, but he’s there more times than not. He’s always friendly and willing to talk to anyone who stops to give him some food or just share a short human-to-human moment.  It must be…

  • Goodbye, Monkey

    Last week, I was at the emergency vet with my cat of 16 years. I knew she might not have much time left and I had to work at a new(er) job the next three days. I sent out a request to see if anyone could cover on such short notice. The response was overwhelming.…

  • Delayed with Strangers

    I was flying home recently on what was supposed to be a routine short flight, but it turned into a 9-hour ordeal because of severe thunderstorms. Through a diverted flight, deplaning in a different airport, getting stuck in the jet bridge, reboarding, and finally getting home, people could have been rude or short with each…

  • Leave No Trace

    I went camping recently. When I got to my campsite for the night, the previous people had dumped all their trash in the fire pit before they left. This meant that I had to clean it all out before I could make a fire, which was annoying when I was already fighting for daylight. Pack…

  • Hospital Heroes

    Having spent the past several days in the hospital with a family member, I am awed by the care and compassion of the hospital staff.  Working 12+-hour shifts, the nurses and assistants still enter the patient’s room with a smile and eagerness to help. They treat the patients with kindness and respect.  It is a…

  • Beyond Words

    We recently spent a month in places we don’t speak the language. People mostly knew enough English for us to communicate verbally, but otherwise, hand motions, a smile, a shrugged shoulder, raised eyebrows, and laughter all seemed to translate. One day near a castle, a woman gestured to me to ask if I would take…

  • Comic relief

    Flying back home, our flight was delayed over four hours. Predictably, everyone waiting for the flight was getting antsy. In response, the gate agent went above and beyond to make us laugh. He joked about downloading a flight simulator to help us get home, and he brought up people from the gate (including kids!) to…