A Reason to be Thankful

I met a man today. An older gentleman sipping coffee at the diner. I sat down after taking Olivia out of the backpack I had carried her in and he said, "Quite the contraption you have there." I smiled and replied, "Yes, it has been very helpful."

He continued, "When I was in Korea, as soon as babies were born they were put on their mothers' backs and carried around like that all the time."

"Yes, isn't that great!" I answered. "I have worn both my children in a cloth sling as infants."

"In Korea they just use a blanket and tie it up." I had a feeling his point may have been that they didn't have to buy backpacks and other "contraptions," but I was so impressed that this man seemed to be so in touch with babies' needs that I stayed on babywearing.

"I've done a lot of reading about wearing babies," I said, "and in countries where parents wear their babies... Have you heard of colic?" He nodded yes. "Well, in countries where parents wear their babies there is no colic and babies rarely cry."

Now I was waiting for him to smile and go back to his paper and coffee, but he surprised me by saying, "Yes, I did notice that babies didn't cry. Maybe that's because they are where they are supposed to be, close to their mothers."

We had just come in from walking, Cameron, Olivia and I, and I was freezing. But, I swear, when he said those words, I could feel my heart get warm. I was so happy I could have hugged the guy.

We went on to discuss his time in Korea and some other interesting things. He commented on how well-behaved my children were, and I thanked him, but was thinking, "Wow, they are being very good right now!" When it was time to leave, I said, "Happy Thanksgiving," really hoping that he would be spending it with a loving family or friends. My children both waved and said goodbye, he smiled and said goodbye, and that's when he went back to reading his paper and sipping his coffee.

So, I am thankful this morning for the kindness of a stranger.