A Touching Scene

Last night I witnessed a touching scene at our local hospital gift shop. A young woman brought an elderly patient in in a wheelchair. The young woman may have been a paid worker or she may have been a granddaughter or she may have been a volunteer. The elderly woman may have been an Alzheimer's patient or she may have been suffering a severe depression. What was moving was the way the young woman spoke softly but without condescension, gently took objects from the shelves and showed them to the lady in the wheelchair. The woman felt the fur of a teddy bear, looked at a tiny baby shirt, smelled a vase of carnations, and "helped" the young woman decide on the purchase of some socks. There was an occasional flicker of interest and a faint smile from the lady in the wheelchair - that seemed to be enough for the young woman; she was not deterred by her companion's rather weak response and continued to cheerfully find things to explore and comment on. Perhaps, I thought, there is nothing terribly remarkable about the scene, but it was pleasing to see such kindness.