I had to run to the grocery store this morning. Last minute, 5 steps behind in my day – running from my car to the front door in the pouring rain. I got what I needed quickly enough, then made my way to the front of the store to find there was only one checker line open. No problem, I got in line with everyone else. The woman in front of me was turned facing the line – rather than the check-out – and she kept looking at me, wanting to connect over our shared predicament of the slowness of service.

Eventually she asked, “You wanna go ahead of me? I don’t mind.”

“Um, no – but thank you,” I replied. I wasn’t sure why she was offering.

She asked again, “Are you sure. You can if you want.”

“Thank you, but no” I repeated, “We have the same amount of stuff in our carts. No worries. Very kind of you though.”

We then joked about how it seemed like her cart was overflowing because she had no less than 5 bags of pet food piled up in it. They were buy one get one half off – so she’d decided her animals could live for another month. She indicated one last time that I could cut the line. I had an overwhelming sense that she just needed to talk with someone.

After a few moments of hesitation I told her …”You know – we are having a workshop in my studio tonight. In light of Robin William’s death we are going to talk about living from a place of gratitude and keeping our hearts open. I’m going to share with the group how kind you were to me. Sometimes all people need is for someone else to acknowledge them and connect in our humanity to make a difference in a day….”

She immediately welled up. She said she has cried twice over his passing and that she feels very concerned for many people in her life. I won’t go into all that she shared – just that she did need to talk for a minute. She needed someone to be kind to her – just as she was offering a random act of kindness. After she checked out she turned back to me, wished me luck in the workshop – and in life. Then she giggled and said “Don’t tell them this story – I didn’t do anything. Make something up. Make it really good ….” I laughed with her – but told her- it’s the smallest acts of love that make the biggest difference. She touched my heart with her gesture and really did make a difference in the course of my day.

Is there someone you can reach out to today?