Show kindness to strangers

I came out of the NE Target store on July 11 to go to my car. A young man, in his 30s, was in a wheelchair waiting patiently for his ride. I started a simple conversation with him. I asked him, “How are you?”, “Do you like this heat?” etc.

In addition to his name, this is what I learned from our conversation: he was adopted from Russia, he has spina bifida, he recently had his right leg amputated because of poor circulation, he worked in a nursing home feeding people for seven years, he was going to a wedding that day, he had a beautiful spirit and a wonderfully sweet smile and he apologized for talking so much! He had such a humble attitude!

PLEASE reach out to someone you don’t know especially people with disabilities. Show kindness and respect to a complete stranger. We are often forgetting in this topsy turvy world to show love! This stranger made my day! He showed me that it is our attitudes that get us through our adversities. Go and listen to a stranger’s story and I promise you will be blessed.

Vonda Birchmier

Cedar Rapids