The Intimate Stranger
Somewhere Between Here And There Challenge
I was walking in the middle, the bottom had fallen out.
I looked at the parking lot and I saw nothing but desolate souls.
Then a scene caught my attention,
It was a man that was struggling with a bicycle tied to a lamp pole in front of me
I watched him and thought to myself, exactly what- Is his story?
He was a man well into his sixties and he had the old hands and arms that I detested on my own body
Sometimes I stared at my hands and arms and wondered how the skin wrinkled and how long it had been there.
My thoughts shifted to the old man standing in front of me, struggling to tie his groceries on the back of his bicycle.
And I wondered what his story was and then I noticed a stranger in the next car who was watching him also.
She was an older lady with her arms wrinkled just like mine.
She approached me and I spoke to her "What do you think his story is?" She said I wondered that as I watched him peddle off and I can't help but feel a sense of gratitude.
I agreed, and then we struck up a conversation and this stranger and I had similar circumstances.
This intimate stranger and I had similar experiences with our children and I looked at her and said, "I thought I was the only one".
I told her about a 13 year old hurting my feelings, but how my husband and I discussed it and decided to leave her our home anyway.
She said I am so glad you made that decision and she told me about a trust she set up for her estranged child's children.
I was between thoughts and in between sentences not knowing if we had made the right decision and then the kindness of a stranger confirmed what I was feeling.
You never know who we will meet to push you along and make you move out of your thoughts.
We agreed that it was meant to be that our paths crossed. Her son was in Texas - my son was dead, murdered. She remembered the flyers I posted and my search for a killer. I wondered if everyone in this town would remember what I did and for how long, and I had mixed feelings about that too.
An intimate stranger taught me to move out of my thoughts, and what we both learned in our brief meeting was:
GRATITUDE- KINDNESS- AND THANKFULNESS
About the Creator
Susan Payton
I love to write in every venue. I am 75 years old and try to make every day count,. I am learning a great deal about poetry on Vocal, and I am glad to be here.
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Comments (4)
Love this, Susan!❤️ I love those kinds of conversations, and I sure do relate to the wrinkles. I was taking a picture of my nails to put in a story along with my granddaughter's nails, and I had to crop my hands because of all of the wrinkles that I wasn't aware of until that picture! My husband just laughed and put his hands up by mine and I could see I wasn't the only one! It helped!!❤️
There's always someone out there who understands us and is able to offer the perfect advice. No surprise when it's a stranger. A great little piece, Susan.
Beautifully contemplative! Definitely left me in a place of wondering more about the identity of the intimate stranger, which is a fantastic term/oxymoron!
May we all learn & embrace such lessons.