Little Old Lady

"Sais-tu c'est quoi un ange?"

"Toi. T'es un ange"

I like to believe that little acts and memories can stick with a person and impact them greatly. I feel stupid pulling out this cheesy line but a little bit of kindness can go a long way.

A year and a half ago, I was walking through the rain with my umbrella to the metro. A little old lady was standing under the roof of the metro entrance. She looked over at me and raised her arm, to signal that she wanted to speak to me. She asked if I could walk her across the street, under my umbrella. Thinking nothing much of it, I let her put her arm around mine and I walked her across the street to the church she was heading to.

As we're getting to the other side, she looks up and at me and asks,

Do you know what an angel is?

Immediately I think Oh god, some Jesus freak who wants to get me into church. She quickly cuts my silent thought:

It's you. You're an angel.

She then pulls her arm away from me and walks into the church.

I was actually a little bit stunned. What I had interpreted as the beginning of some crazy lecture in saving my soul, turned into a really touching (and sappy) compliment. Well, the little old lady's charm worked on me and I was really touched. Touched enough to remember it on my way back from the concert tonight.

It's little things like this that I like to believe can make someone's day and make them feel a little better. From my point of view, it's surprising how tiny, meaningless events can really change a person's mood and become so memorable. I hope there are a few people out there who have been touched by a little thing I've done for them once as well.

I included the French version of what she said, since it just sounds a lot better to me than the translation. Don't worry, my next post won't be so sappy and (hopefully) cute.