While unloading groceries yesterday afternoon I noticed a man walking alone across the street. He was wearing a white dress shirt, tucked in, with dark grey slacks, probably in his eighties, his arms wrapped around his back while moving along at a meandering pace. He was too far away to say hello, and I didn’t know him, and had actually never even seen him before in the fourteen years we’ve lived in our neighborhood, I probably wouldn’t have greeted him anyway fearful I’d startle him, but simply watching him enjoy his peaceful stroll made my heart swell.

I could feel his joy with each gentle step from over twenty-five yards away, and in that stillness I saw it seep out from the soles of his shoes, stretch out across the street, climb up the curb and onto the fourth step I was standing on in our front yard, traverse up my legs, and pour into my heart.

Joy is all around us, and within us, we just need to stop, notice it, and allow it to seep into our souls.

The song and video choice, This Year's Love by David Gray goes out to a very special birthday girl, one of my dearest and oldest friends, an amazing musician herself who introduced me to David Gray, the sensational, Susie Wood.