Two Angels

Maybe you’re used to experiencing incidents like the one I’m now going to share with you, but to me, it has been an eye-opener. As such, I was saved by an angel disguised as a mother through an act of kindness that would be criminal to let go unnoticed.

We met as the three of us, her with child, were heading to the entrance of the Samuels Public Library to leave. What I have concluded from my limited experience in life is that people who hang out at a library read. I figure the more you read, the more you’ll know and the nicer you’ll be. So, I decided that the two of them must be nice right off the bat. That makes sense to me. But what she then did was way beyond regular nice.

This kindly spirit was carrying an adorable toddler held snugly to her, maybe a year old, if that. I stopped, as is my wont, to say hi to the kid and see if I could get a smile out of her. “Hi kid,” I said. She smiled. My day was made. The three of us then continued to the exit. As a personal aside, I talk to the toddlers all the time; a moth to a flame. They’re irresistible. I talk to them about their toys, where they’re going, the weather, do they like where they live? Anything, but not politics because a parent might be listening and there is a likelihood that we would be on different sides of things, me being majorly tilted towards the left, otherwise I would ask the child’s opinion on the current state of affairs; they usually know more than me by virtue of not watching Fox News or MSNBC. I also talk to dogs about sports.

Our timing to exit the library left a lot to be desired. There was a deluge of thunderstorm rain between us and our cars. The ferocity of the storm was an insurmountable barrier for me. I had no umbrella. But she did. She asked her daughter if she were ready to go out in the storm. The kid smiled, and much to my amazement out they went. And no, the umbrella did not keep them dry. They got drenched. She could’ve used a lifeguard to help them get to the car. I was left standing inside the entrance bravely waiting for the rain to let up.

Then she did something I still think is extraordinary. She drove her car to the entrance and motioned for me to come get her umbrella, now folded. There was no way I could make it to her car and open the umbrella without getting completely soaked. She saw my predicament and opened her door and then the umbrella, got out of her car and walked through the storm over to me, and held the umbrella over both our heads so that the two of us could make it back to her car. Then she gave me the umbrella so I could use it to get to my car.

“How am I going to give you back your umbrella,” I asked. “I’ll bring my car around,” she replied.

Through all this I was truly flabbergasted by her generosity of spirit. I kept thanking her and she kept saying, “Of course.”

She didn’t give me her name. Neither did the baby. But if you ever come across a nice young mother, who likes to read, holding a smiling child, that might be her. We should all be so thoughtful, big-hearted. In my memory, through her kindness, I think of her as an angel, who I assumed had to be a Democrat because she was so nice, naturally.

I told my daughter the story and, with a gleam in her eyes, she said, “Dad, have you thought that maybe this kind, considerate woman could be for Trump?”

My daughter has always been wiser than me. I pass her wisdom on to you.

That makes two angels.

Jay Buckner
Warren County

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