Poosey Digest: Our compassion’s showing

Greetings from Poosey.

Isabelle Pieri’s mother died two years ago. Her father has been trying hard to be both a father and mother to the 11-year-old, but sometimes he just can’t get all the bases covered. One thing he could never quite manage was doing her hair every morning. In fact, at one point he simply had to give her a haircut, being unable to untangle his daughter’s curls. Then one day Isabelle saw her school bus driver braiding the hair of another student and asked if she could be next. Now the little girl and the bus driver have a regular morning appointment. Tracy Dean, the bus driver said, “I found out that I had breast cancer, and that’s one of the things that went through my head. Who’s going to take care of my little ones?”

In spite of what cable news tells you tonight, people are pretty darned good.

Last year a mosque in Victoria, Texas, was burned to the ground. Local churches and synagogues provided space for the congregation to meet while a million dollars was raised online to build a new mosque. Meanwhile ISIS in Mosul damaged a Catholic church so their Christian and Muslim neighbors pitched in to restore the church. Yep, no matter what you hear, people are pretty good.

A church in Carrollton, Texas, usually spends $100,000 on commercial advertising. Last week they changed their minds and paid off the medical debt of 4,229 families and veterans. The debts could be purchased for a fraction of their worth so the total debt forgiven topped $10 million.

Sesame Place, an amusement park in Philadelphia, became the world’s first recipient of certification for autism accommodation as the venue offered quiet rooms and sensory guides so parents can plan their visits. All the staff members have become certified in autism sensitivity training.

It had been little Alli’s dream to visit the Magic Kingdom in Disney World so her grandma made it happen, even buying a special princess dress for Alli to wear that day. As soon as she stepped through the gates of the kingdom, a burly security guard walked up to her and asked for her autograph. His autograph book was filled with squiggles of young princesses over the years.

Many stores are visited by a Secret Santa or two around Christmas. But a guy only identified as Charlie K. walked into a New Jersey Toys R Us and paid for all the toys on layaway, totally over $10,000. Don’t tell me the world is going in the wrong direction. He said, “I just love my community and wanted to do something.”

The blood donation centers hadn’t even opened yet on the day after the Las Vegas shooting and the lines of donors were already stretching around the block.

Harold Holland and Lillian Barnes got divorced 50 years ago. Harold said, “It was my fault … just too devoted to my work schedule.” Both remarried, both lost their second spouses, and last Saturday the couple remarried after 50 years. Harold said, “We could have eloped, but our kids wouldn’t have allowed that.”

Adrian Charpentier, 78, must carry around an oxygen tent to breathe. He has a great deal of trouble using his hands. When he sat at the counter of the Waffle House in La Marque, Texas, he couldn’t cut his ham. So, 18-year-old waitress Evoni Williams leaned over the counter and cut it for him. Another customer was touched by the action so she took a picture of what was happening and posted it online. The photo went viral and was noticed by representatives from Texas Southern University who showed up with a check for $16,000 in scholarship money. Williams had been struggling to save up money to attend college. She’s now enrolled.

Samari Izadi Page arrived in Dallas as a refugee from Iran. She and her family were immediately taken in by the Wilshire Baptist Church and set up in a fully furnished apartment. That was 1999. Today Samira is a priest in the Episcopal Church and has started Gateway of Grace, an organization that serves 2,000 refugees a year. A member of her congregation said, “These people are fleeing the same types of things that make us all afraid.”

The stories are out there. They seem to multiply as the woes of the planet grow larger. It’s a strange, strange world when the citizens show more compassion and wisdom than their leaders.

You ever ’round Poosey, stop by. We may not answer the door but you’ll enjoy the trip.