Staying Power

From the desk of Teresa Jordan – Last week on a tired Thursday I stopped for groceries. When I came out of the store and walked to my car, three people were waiting for me.

It was a bit nerve-wracking being mobbed by strangers in a parking lot. All had the same concern – a truck with a plow had hit my car and left, and they wanted to offer their aid. The damage was extensive, and I would be lying if I said, after everyone left, I didn’t cry.

But the story here is in the people who stayed. They took time out of their tired and busy lives to make sure that the note left for me had contact information (it did not), that I understood how it happened, that I had the license plate number and that I had their contact info if I needed it.

I was overwhelmed and a little confused; they told me what to do next, made sure that I was all right and wished me well.

I love that in a time when we are distanced and a little sad there are still glimpses of people caring about each other, caring for a stranger who just happens to now have a long gouge down the side of her car big enough to hide a couple submarine sandwiches in.

They stayed and they put aside their worries, and I have no real way to thank them, except to send this message to everyone who has taken a few minutes to help a stranger. You are the people who make the world a better place, you make a lasting difference, and that your kind of magic is the glue that holds us all together in good times and in grocery parking lot demolition derbies.

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