• There are things that show who I am and what I have learned from those around me, something that I do very often in fact, is to care for those who have been forgotten. To give to those who are in need of what we have abundance of, to share our time with someone who actually needs it. I was recently in Washington D.C. and my parents and I brought me to the Smithsonian Art Museum, they went off some where while I was looking around and admiring the talent of these artists and their beautiful work. There was a bench infront of a giant painting and there was an elderly gentleman who was sitting there, he seemed to be asleep so I sat next to him to admire the painting. His head lifted up and his eyes looked into mine... I saw a deep sadness in them and felt for the older gentleman. A few minutes later I saw him admiring the painting like I was and said, "Beautiful isn't it... I can not imagine the amount of talent and skill it would take to even paint a corner on this masterpiece." I looked at him with a smile and his eyes brightened up like two brightly lit stars. We had a short but nice conversation about the piece and when I got up to leave he took my hand in his two hands and said, "You have made me so happy, all you did was treat me like a person and showed me I existed, I am now forever thankfull." The most touching thing about that was the fact that a tear slid down his cheak as he told me that. He looked like my grandfather, and that made me want to talk to him in the first place. I will never forget that elderly gentleman, before I left I smiled at him and said, "You will never be forgotten, because God is sitting right there and because I will always remember you." I gave his hand a light squeze and then walked off and waved at him before I turned the corner. He was smiling so wide it looked like it would hurt him, but he smiled and nodded as I turned the corner.
    All he wanted was for someone to say hello, or smile. But instead he was ignored on a daily basis and I became his wake up call and the person who told him he wasn't alone.