I was standing at an intersection waiting to cross and noticed a young homeless man pushing a shopping basket filled with his belongings. He had a beautiful dog with him. Then I saw an older, well-dressed man approach the young man and his dog.

The man knelt down to pet the dog. The young man was beaming, the dog’s tail was wagging so fast I thought it would fly off, and the older gentleman was smiling from ear to ear. When he stood up I saw him hand the young man some money. They exchanged a hand shake and with one last pat on the dog’s head the man turned and walked away.

When I crossed the street I caught up to the gentleman and said, “That was a very cool thing to witness. Thank you so much for what you did.” He smiled. I smiled. For several days I had a wonderful feeling for having witnessed such a sweet and loving act.

It was obvious the well-dressed gentleman had money. Money alone did not make the man’s actions noteworthy. Maya Angelou said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

It takes a person of integrity to give the attention and kindness the man bestowed on the young man. Regardless how much money the older man has he is certainly rich in admirable character because of how he made the young man and his dog feel.

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