Grandma and The Umbrella

True Story: Yesterday the rain was pouring down when David and I headed to the bus stop. We were covered with hooded coats, but nevertheless the rain got everywhere. I heard a Seattle newscaster joke on the air yesterday, "This morning people traveling here on business are waking up in their hotel rooms and saying, 'Yeah, this is why I don't live here.'" So true. It was that nasty out. I tried to put David in the truck for a ride to the bus stop, but he insisted on riding his scooter instead.

The bus stop serves two groups, David's and also the middle-school bus that comes about 10 minutes earlier. As we arrived, a neighborhood woman with an umbrella was walking home after putting her granddaughter on the the bus. As he often does, David said hello to her as we went to wait at the stop.

Without hesitation she said Hi, turned around, and walked with us while covering everyone with her over-sized umbrella.

For the ten minutes we stood waiting, the woman made sure David stayed under the umbrella and brushed the rain drops off his jacket and backpack. She patted him on the back and head, while talking to him quietly. Although she didn't speak a word of English, the meter of her voice was clearly filled with words of support and reassurance. When David would stray away from the umbrella, she would try to call him back. He always returned. When a little girl arrived at the bus stop with her grandfather, the grandmother tried to overlap the two umbrellas to make more room for everyone. Put simply, she mothered on David and the little girl while we all waited.

It was the purest act of selflessness that I had seen in a long time.

She didn't have to cover us with her umbrella, but she did. In the worst of weather she stayed. Facing the roadblock of language, she communicated anyway. And when meeting complete strangers in the dark and the wet, she made new friends. Without question, she did what she felt necessary to provide protection and good will. It may just be that she just enjoys doing things like this for others, which only makes the whole event more meaningful.

I think what she did can be a lesson for all of us.

1 Peter 3:8 - ...All of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

In this world where personal agendas cross paths before relationships can be made, there is still a quiet message of friendship that can shine through a dark gray rainy morning. Spreading goodwill by sharing an umbrella, letting another car into congested traffic, or giving a simple nod and smile when greeting a stranger on the street; these things don't take a lot of effort, and while the payoff may not be personal its impact on the community is longer lasting. Being decent to each other is merely the right thing to do because, in the end, we all benefit.

A Grandmother with an umbrella taught us that.

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Photo courtesy of wheat_in_your_hair