I had gone to Stop & Shop to do my biweekly grocery shopping a few days ago. I brought my reusable bags and filled all five with healthy(er) foods and was ready to load them into my car. I pushed my cart out the automatic doors and down the ramp to the parking lot. In front of me was an obese, elderly woman in an electric wheel chair with her reusable grocery bag hanging off the back of the headrest of her wheelchair. I scooted around her and as I did I heard, “Miss?”
So, I turned around and she had stopped in the parking lot and was reaching around to the bag hanging off her chair. “Would you help me? I think I left a bag in the checkout line.” So, I took the bag off the head rest happily, and showed her the contents. “Oh, I had two bags…I must have left the other one inside. *grunt*” I put the bag back on her head rest and began to head back to my cart. No sooner did I turn around did I hear, “OH! Here it is!” She had tied it to the side of the arm rest. “It’s that time, I suppose. Ya’ll had better be good to us – it’ll be your time soon, ya know!” I humored her and laughed, told her to have a good rest of her day, and headed back to my car smiling.
I put my groceries in the car, still smiling, excited that I had a story to tell Lacee when I got home. I pulled out of the spot and stopped at the edge of the parking lot to turn onto the busy street. Right beside me I saw the woman in the wheelchair cruising along…with two (yes two) cigarettes in her mouth. I laughed to myself and pulled out of the parking lot, leaving the smoking wheelchair in my past, with an entertaining story to look forward to in my future.
Connecting with people, in any way, touches me – just as I hope it touches everyone else. I learn, I laugh, I collect experiences and stories that have no monetary value, but I keep them all the same. That’s what we’re all here for, right? To socialize and grow and build communities and enrich the human race. Smiling, laughing, crying, thinking, questioning, and learning – that’s why I go where I go and do what I do. Experiencing my life instead of just living it… is beautiful.
