Strangers I Have Known

~ A blog by Melissa Kotler Schwartz

Strangers I Have Known

Tag Archives: Finger

Company on a Bench

18 Saturday Oct 2014

Posted by Melissa Kotler Schwartz in Blog Posts

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Bench, Blue eyes, Captain, Cats, Clear, Company, Cuba, Dogs, Eyes, Finger, Goodbye, hair, Happiness, Havanese, Hours, Interested, Louie, melissa kotler schwartz, Morning, Pale, Park, Purchase, Sad, Sadness, Sailors, Sea, Share, Shelter, Soccer, Spain, strangers, strangers i have known, Take care, Trade, Trench Coat, Volunteer, Waist, Work, Wrinkled

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I don’t think I would have ever met the two men who sat next to one another on a nearby park bench if my puppy Louie hadn’t been with me. Puppies are people magnets and when the two men passing the time smiled at him, I brought Louie closer to say hi.

“What kind of dog is he?” the man with the dark blond hair and captivating blue eyes asked.

His face was very tan and perfectly wrinkled. His eyes were so compelling that I wanted to ask him where he got them, as if I could purchase them in a store. He looked like a sea captain to me, one from a children’s book, but on reflection I realized that he probably looked that way from living on the streets.

“A Havanese,” I said.

“I haven’t seen one of those before.”

“These dogs were originally bred in Spain,” I said. “Sailors took them on ships from Spain to Cuba. They would trade them for goods.

The sea captain and his friend looked at Louie again.

The sea captain reached out his hand and Louie sniffed it. Then he petted the side of his neck. The other man followed his lead, reaching out cautiously to pet Louie’s head.

He was the opposite of the sea captain, pale, with eyes that were worn from too much sadness and just a little wisp of hair going across the top of his balding head. On this hot September day, with the sun baking on their backs, the balding man wore a black trench coat with a belt tightly wrapped around his waist.

“I’ve been sitting here a few hours with my friend,” he said proudly. I wasn’t sure if he knew his friend’s name, but it was clear that being with the sea captain had brought him some happiness that he wanted to share with me.

The sea captain looked at Louie. “I work at a shelter as a volunteer from 12:00 at night to 5:00 in the morning,” he said. “We have cats bigger then your dog.”

“Wow! What do you do at the shelter?” I asked.

“Oh, I just help out. I feed them and hold them and do what needs to be done.”

As I was responding, the other man pointed a pale swollen finger at Louie. “He’s not interested in us, too much going on at the park.” His face looked so sad, as if Louie were letting him down, as so many others had, by not being interested in him or his life.

I turned and looked back at the soccer game that was happening behind us. A coach was yelling at some boys to get the ball. Louie stood still watching and listening to the sounds of the coach and the crowd cheering. All three of us watched silently as I tried to find words to alleviate the unhappiness I felt emanating from this man in his belted trench coat and worn eyes. I wanted to say something kind to him, but I just couldn’t think of anything. And I had somewhere to be. I settled for a “Well, say goodbye, Louie.” I added a smile and an “It’s been nice talking with you.”

“Take care, Louie,” the sea captain said. The gloomy-eyed man didn’t say anything.

I wished he had a pet, a dog like Louie who could be his friend. Maybe he had a pet, but I didn’t think so. He could tell his furry friend so many things that he may not be able to share with his companion on the bench.

I felt a tug on Louie’s leash. He had spotted a small chihuahua and he wanted to catch up with him. “Bye, it was nice talking with you,” I said. They nodded.

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Post Office: Roselawn, Ohio, A Sunny August Afternoon after Lunch

20 Tuesday Aug 2013

Posted by Melissa Kotler Schwartz in Blog Posts

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Afternoon, Arm, August, Beauty, Bench, Best, Customer, Ear Clip, Finger, Girl, Grandma, Head, Lady, Listen, Lunch, Meet, melissakotlerschwartz, Ohio, Passports, Phone, Post Office, Postal Clerk, Ring, Roselawn, strangers, Sunny, Waiting, Wooden, World

Sometimes waiting in line has its benefits – it connects you to people in your community that you’d never meet. Today, I met a little girl named Vanessa and her grandmother.  While a man behind me huffed and puffed and shuffled his feet in frustration over the wait, Vanessa, Grandma and I decided to make the best of the situation and talk to each other.

I made a comment to Grandma that we had a long wait, “passports or something.”

She nodded her head. “I like your ring,” she said to me.

Then Vanessa wanted to look at my ring, too. She held my hand gently to get a good look at it. It was a touching moment, a little girl gazing at a stranger’s ring. And I have to say it made my afternoon. I’m not around little people enough and I can forget their innocent beauty.

“Vanessa, show the lady your ring,” her grandma said.

Vanessa put her right hand out in a graceful gesture. There was a lovely silver ring with a tiny heart on her right finger. “I love your silver ring,” I told her. She smiled at me proudly and her big brown eyes got bigger.

She ran over to the little wooden bench up near the counter. I’ve always liked the bench the Roselawn Post Office keeps there. I think it honors the little people of the world. She briefly listened to the conversation that was going on between the postal clerk and his customer and quickly tired of it.

She tapped her grandma’s arm and motioned for her phone. Then, she tapped her grandma’s arm again for her ear clip. She carried them both to the bench, where she placed the ear clip on her ear and tuned out the conversation between the clerk and the customer. She looked so grownup sitting on the bench with her legs crossed. Too bad, I thought, she’s missing out on the opportunity that the front row offers her – a glimpse into the everyday world of people taking care of their business.

I wonder, when she grows up, if there’ll still be a post office around where her children can sit on a little bench and listen.

Girl on Bench

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