Love on the Bus

Love doesn't make the world go round, but it sure makes the ride worthwhile.
-- Franklin P. Jones

Wet stairs, a need to hurry, a half-paralyzed body and not looking where you’re going is a bad combination. I slipped. The back of my good leg skidded down the stairs; my paralyzed leg couldn’t hold me. I landed on my seat and bounced out the bus door, sprawling on the sidewalk.

Since I fell all the time, this was no big deal. I just got up and headed toward my next bus. At the next bus, a pretty woman, a little older than myself, plopped down beside me.

“I saw you fall,” she said. “When you got right back up and kept going, just like you hadn’t even fallen, i decided that, if I had the chance, I wanted to talk with you.”

I fell all the time, so I hadn’t even thought about it. But Kathryn noticing and wanting to talk to me just because I’d gotten back up and kept going made me feel good about myself.

We met on the bus two or three days a week for about a year or less. We got to know each other pretty well. I told her about my therapy and she told me she was going through a divorce and custody fight.

She had an entire world of problems I’d never dreamed of. Listening to her story and becoming interested in her circumstances helped me in four ways:

1. It helped me realize I wasn’t the only one with problems.
2. It helped me get my mind off my problems.
3. It helped me feel capable of helping her.
4. It helped me by giving me a friendship that has lasted for 20+ years.


That happened to be a long interaction, but creating a bond and feeling of camaraderie can happen much quicker. I've felt bonded to people when all there's been between us is an understanding smile, or maybe a few words of encouragement.


We all have opportunities to love and help other people. What keeps me helping others is remembering how good I feel when someone helps me.