A Few Short but Sweet Stories

Daniel was walking Webster in the garden that surrounded his apartment house.

A little girl of two or three was very excited to see Webster. Webster was also

very excited to see her and jumped up enough that the little girl became

frightened and started to cry. The mother picked up her child, smiled at Daniel and

told him not to worry. Daniel sat down on the pavement with Webster to show

the little girl that she didn’t need to be afraid, that Webster was gentle. Daniel stayed

there on the sidewalk petting Webster and talking to the little girl until she

became comfortable and slowly and cautiously got down from her mother’s

arms and came to join Daniel and Webster on the sidewalk. Soon the little girl

was laughing as Webster licked her hand. Daniel could have just apologized

and continued on his walk with Webster, leaving the little girl’s mother

to deal with her crying and scared daughter, he could have, but that would not

have been Daniel.

Daniel and I were on a subway train into Philadelphia. There was a homeless

man standing in the aisle holding onto several bags of belongings. Nearly everyone else in our car

was seated. The train came to a sudden stop and the man fell over losing hold of all of his

bags. All thepassengers remained seated, either not noticing or pretending not to

notice the man’s difficulty. With no hesitation, Daniel jumped up to help the man get up,

collect his bags and get safely off the train.

Daniel was in line behind an elderly woman at the check-out counter at a

pharmacy. He overheard the woman arguing with the pharmacist about the price

of the drug she needed. She ended up leaving without getting it. Daniel, not

wanting to embarrass her in the store, followed her out to the street. He stopped

her and said that he had overheard her conversation with the pharmacist and

knew how expensive drugs could be. He told her that he had just received a bonus

at work and would be happy to get the prescription for her. Daniel had

not received a bonus but wanted her to feel comfortable in accepting the.

One of Daniel’s greatest gifts was his ability to make people feel comfortable,

special, important and loved.

A man in his eighties walked by our house every day. He had been a professor of history at

St. Joseph’s University but had been retired for many years. Daniel always showed an interest

in him and addressed him as “Professor”. Now I do too.

Daniel called the car mechanic he used, “Doc.”

Two neighbors had cancer. Daniel did not avoid them but spoke to them

comfortably as he always had. He was also kind to the husbands after their

wives died. Since Daniel’s death I have seen how difficult it can be for someone to

address someone who has just lost an important person in their life.

Daniel had a special ability to feel empathy for people and I often saw how

his interest in them helped people to feel better about themselves.