I stopped at Berryville, Arkansas on the way to Eureka Springs to grab a quick lunch and while there I noticed a lady wearing a pink blouse and with little hair. I assumed she was undergoing chemo treatment. She was talking loudly and seemed in good spirits but to me it was a thin shield.

My wife and I had finished eating about the time she had finished eating and for whatever reason I had this overwhelming urge to give this stranger a hug. Perhaps it was because my previous wife had passed on from cancer and I understood the warrior in this lady and the battle being waged. I walked over and gave her a strong hug and immediately she started to tear up.

She thanked me and turned to her friend and started to talk to her friend… did you see that, a total stranger…just walked up to me and hugged me, how sweet…and other kind things. My wife and I were soon out of hearing range and the moment was gone.

This episode made me think, how many times can we take a moment out of our life and just pass a small blessing on? Make someone else’s day a bit brighter. How many times have we been down and needed a hug, a kind word? So start today.

BJ Cassady bj.cassady@af-group.com
Caldwell, Kansas
Guthrie, Oklahoma