People (Part II)

Continuing from the previous post, my adventures and observations of people in Boston: 

A musician

From the house, I would take the bus and subway (the T) to campus. On one subway ride, as the platform was packed with people waiting for the next train, I heard music (not unusual) before spotting a gentleman sitting in a wheelchair. Without a leg, but with a guitar in his hands, he sang the words "you can't always get what you want." As he repeated the lyrics and I looked at his face and his wheelchair, I wondered if he was singing and crying his heart out to strangers, hoping someone would stop and listen. 

A senior adult

On my last day of research, I stopped by Dunkin' Donuts to get an iced tea and to sit down for a bit to go over my notes before going back to the library. I noticed at the next table sat a group of senior adults. Little did I expect that after the group dismissed, one of them would come to my table to introduce himself. He asked if I was following the Boston Celtics during the NBA Playoffs. When I told him I was following the French Open much more closely, he told me he used to coach tennis! As the conversation continued, he told me about his meeting group that gathered every day at Dunkin' Donuts after mass at the church down the street. He also told me he went to Boston College and shared with me about his career as an accountant. He even told me his name, and offered to drive me to visit his alma mater because it was loosely connected to my research. Since I needed to go back to the library and I did not want to make a senior adult in his 80s drive me around, I had to decline the offer and we parted ways. I was amazed, though, at how people could connect and how they could be so generous towards strangers they had just met.

A Harvard student

After leaving the library on my last day on campus, I was walking along Harvard Yard when someone approached me from behind. It was a Korean student inviting me to her Bible study group on campus. It was quite funny that she asked me if I was Korean (I didn't think I looked Korean :). I told her I would love to join her but couldn't, because I was only visiting and was leaving the following day. We talked for a bit and exchanged names. She asked me to pray for her Bible study group. Of course, I said yes! Even though we lived in different places and were culturally different, we had the most important thing in common - our faith. I was very glad she sought me out, on a rainy day, no less. Such boldness and such a heart for God was wonderful to see. She had no idea, but she already ministered to me with this act of kindness and through our brief conversation.

The last segment to be continued.