The Generosity of Strangers

We live right next door to a shopping plaza so it's a nice place for Abby and I to run when we just need to get out of the house and pick up a few groceries. Such was the case today. It was a gloomy day outside, Abby had just woken up from her afternoon nap, and we'd been in all day. So when I asked Abby if she wanted to go bye-bye and she was literally shrieking with excitement and we walked outside to find it raining, I couldn't very well turn around and go back inside. That thought did cross my mind since both our umbrellas just happened to be in the car. With Roy. At school. It was only drizzling so I covered Abby's head with one of the campaign ads we got in the mail and walked as fast as possible to the covered stores (way less than 5 minutes for anyone concerned for our health). On our way back home, I checked the rain and it was going a little harder. A man in the parking lot asked me if I was okay and I responded that I was and had just been checking the rain. He offered us a ride, but since the stranger danger lessons I have learned plus the fact that we had no carseat for Abby helped me to say no. Undetered, this stranger said, "Follow me!" and ran into the discount store, grabbed an umbrella, and handed it to me with an, "I'll take care of it."

Now it is my turn to give back. To my stranger, thank you, but not just for an umbrella, but the reminder of doing good to others, friend or stranger.