There is an Asian woman that I encounter often by the supermarket where I get my groceries. She is always very respectful and minds her own business. I can tell that it has been awhile since she’s showered, or been around people regularly that don’t live on the streets. But she weaves in and out of the folks that live in this neighborhood, and those that visit it, and somehow both blends in and survives. I can’t really understand what she says, but every time we see one another we nod at each other and continue on with our day. A mutual acknowledgment of the humanity that exists in the other person I suppose.
Today when I saw her, she was at the table next to me as I was getting my groceries situated in my little cart for the walk home on the grocery stores patio area, and I offered her a box of breakfast bars that were from a bogo this store was having. She nodded, said thanks, and asked if I could open a hot sauce packet for her. I realized in that moment that she considered us friends, or at the very least acquaintances. So of course I did what any friend would do, and tried to open it and failed miserably. I told my new friend I couldn’t get it open and that my hands don’t work right at times, and I think she said “that’s okay! Thanks! Bye!”
As I was turning to leave, I realized she may not like apple cinnamon breakfast bars, and offered strawberry to her. She readily accepted those instead, and waved goodbye to me again- her new friend.
The city that I live in now has given me many things; healthcare, an extra dose of tenacity brought on by trauma, new friends, my first church home since converting to Catholicism, peace, happiness, and an authentic way of looking at the world and those in it for exactly what and who they are. That can be both a good and a bad thing having no more blinders on. Today it was a good thing. Today I made a friend and fed someone. Not for accolades or likes, but because it was the right thing to do, and that Asian lady is made in the image and likeness of God just like everyone else is. Plus, why does one person need two boxes of breakfast bars anyhow? I digress. We are all quite literally the same and all matter equally because we are all Gods children. He doesn’t love any one of us over the other. I am thankful for this reminder today. I am thankful for one more friend. Most of all, I am thankful for a God that continues to love us all in-spite of ourselves.