All weekend I had been struggling with an addition to my phone. I wasted each day reading web novels, ignoring my boyfriend, my health, and all of my goals and chores.
Sunday night ended by finally gathering enough motivation to head outside and grab something for supper around 10:30PM. As I was in line to order at a nearby fast food restaurant, an older man named Glynn asked if I could buy him something to eat. Food is something I’m happy to help with so I had no problem buying whatever meal he wanted. The service was slow and Glynn had a lot of topics to talk about. He talked about different rich people he encountered. One man once gave him a $300 watch for him to pawn. Another lady he described would shop at an expensive mall and was apparently a bit superficial. I couldn’t decipher the point of the chosen topics and was rather guarded to his motivations as it seemed likely he would ask something additional of me. Overall Glynn seemed quite harmless as we continued talking and I just listened with as much attention as I could muster.
After ordering he did ask me if I minded buying him a pack a cigarettes. I said I could but told him I was against giving money so we could go to the convenience store nearby together. Despite being 100 meters away this walk would take us 4 time the usually length as Glynn was extremely chatty and a very slow walker. Being elderly I called on a higher power to give patience and love towards the man. I probed him about music as this seemed to be something he really enjoyed. He talked of different songs and singers, none I knew tell of other than Paul McCartney. At the convenience store I grabbed some milk and his cigarettes and then Glynn and I walk together until parting ways in different directions. During this walk Glynn told me about where he was headed (a 24 hour coffee shop) and also about places where he typically slept. He mentioned a nightmare he had had where a lioness attack him and he jolted awake. With my engagement in the topic he asked me about any nightmares I had had. I instantly thought of waking up in a cold sweat in university with pure fear lingering from a nightmare. It was fear I couldn’t remember feeling before and it made me aware of how fortunate I was to regularly feel safe. It was something up until that moment that I hadn’t noticed I had been taking for granted.
As we parted ways and said goodnight, Glynn thanked me again. Waiting for the light to change, he turned back after walking several meters to confirmed my name and say that I had made his night. It seemed sincere. I pray Glynn has a peaceful sleep away from nightmares and that he can feel God’s love for him. I thank him for helping me disconnect from my phone and my self-centered thoughts and to help me notice some of the many blessings currently in my life.