A stranger's love message makes a huge difference

 I had, only ten minutes before, sopped my handkerchief with tears after a very difficult visit with my dementia-inflicted father.

My car was now in the local fix-it garage getting attended to and I was blowing time walking Main Street of the town I lived last year. Paper hearts clung to every storefront window. Knowing that Valentine's Day had just occurred, I ignored them. But as I was looking past one, into a closed shop, wishing I could go in and browse, I focused on the heart. It had words of encouragement and care on it. I looked at the others and they all spoke of dozens of creators who hoped their message might be seen by someone in need of a lift.

It is difficult to put into words just how affected I was by these multiple gifts. I was much distressed, exhausted, and feeling lost. It is awful to have one's father believe his daughter is his deceased wife and have him act on it. But after dealing with that nasty hour, I was now being showered with words of comfort. I will never know who wrote them, never know if others were helped, as I was, by these bits of paper. I can tell you, though, that should you ever decide to leave similar random messages for strangers, you may be providing them with an extremely potent bit of soul nourishment.

-GG