Christopher was the first person we met in Seattle.
after driving our rental car from the airport though a detour with its zigs and zags
Christopher was at our hotel to greet us, to make sure we were safe
he even helped carry our bags.
Christopher told us how we loves Seattle.
How he’s lived there all his life.
We learned where he went to school, how he came to work at this hotel
about his family and his wife.
Nathan was the last person we met in Maine.
We had a lot of time before our flight so we stopped to enjoy the view we’ve come to adore.
When we saw Nathan carrying a bucket making his way up from the shore.
We knew form the sign that somewhere in the flats below
is where the mud worms live…and where the mud worm diggers go.
So we asked this old man walking toward us in waders
If his bucket had mud worms inside…
He smiled, set down his bucket so we could have a look
then, as the two of us felt his pride….
he told us about his family, how his daughter has a place in Florida
how he’d been digging up mud worms for over 53 years,
and how mud worms aren’t as plentiful as they once were…
how they’re dying out…he fears.
We asked him why, at 80, he’s still at it…
He smiled as to his bucket handle he clung…
then with a youthful wink of his eye said,
“All this exercise keeps me young!”
Christopher was the first and Nathan was the last person on this trip that we have seen
but there were hundreds of Christopher’s and Nathans who we met in between.
Years form now when we look back on our trip from Washington to Maine
we hope the memory of every Christopher and Nathan we met…will, in our minds, remain.
Reminding us wherever we go
there are people whose kindness shines…and whose smiles glisten….
Reminding us how everybody has a story…if we take the time to listen.
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