I was walking my dog this morning enjoying a warm November day.  I spend a lot of my dog walking time thinking about the day ahead and what I hope to accomplish and I was excited to get some work done.  As we made our way back to our building’s entrance, there was an old woman exiting.

I thought it was strange that she was wearing as many layers as possible to protect her from the non existent cold.  Regardless, we did the polite thing and let her exit before entering.  She said thank you twice with a larger than life smile on her face and then bent over to greet my dog.  He’s incredible friendly and his tail wiggled as she scratched his chin.

“Hello little one.”

I’m always proud when people get near him and he makes them smile. (He tends to stare.  It’s impossible to resist his charm.)  All in all, it was a wonderful exchange and we went our separate ways.  However, before I entered the building, the woman turned and said something that changed the nature of the encounter completely.

“At least you have something that appreciates you.”

What happened to the friendly bundled up lady I met five seconds ago?  Was she a lonely and angry woman on the inside?  Did something just happen to her to make her so bitter all of the sudden?  Did she have a fight with someone?  Did her pet recently pass away?

I couldn’t make sense of it.  Normally grumpy people are grumpy period but this woman went out of her way to be friendly.  So I settled on lonely.  I don’t think she was angry or bitter.  I think she just longed for a companion.  In a sense, I was even more proud of my dog’s wiggling tail.  It must have been a nice boost for that woman if only for a moment…

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