People Will Never Forget How You Made Them Feel

The sweetest scene got me through my Valentine's Day run yesterday! When I got to Rude Rec Center, it was surprisingly empty. This makes sense though 'cause all the guys that normally occupy the weight machines must be beefing up for somebody special! I'm sure there was no lack of fuzzy puppies and frogs being bought off of Federal's street corners instead.

What their absence created was room in the gym for new groups of people to work out. When I walked in, there were only two people on the cardio machines (this NEVER happens). I jumped on a treadmill next to one of them, put in my head phones, blasted my 90's punk rock, and started my run. Within a couple minutes, one of the guys jumped off his machine, walked over to me, and gleefully waved a hand in front of my face. I took my head phones out of my ears just in time to hear the other man say, "Don't bother her while she's running!" The boy walked back to his machine with a huge smile on his face and said, "I want to go fast like she is!" So the man, I'm assuming the caregiver in this case, showed the boy how to change the speed on his machine. I smiled at them both really big to let them know I wasn't at all bothered by the interruption. I would've talked to them, but I was too out of breath by then!

For the rest of my run, their playfulness ensued. They tried racing each other while walking backwards, they stopped repeatedly to measure their heart beats, they jumped on the bikes and imagined riding to cool places, they even had fun using the dreaded crunch machines. While watching them play, and burn some major calories I might add, I couldn't stop thinking about how cool their relationship was. This boy, probably 16 or 17, was overweight. He must've been in the gym for the same reason I was, but for him it wasn't a fat-burning workout...it was a game! I admired his caregiver for helping create that.

Seeing someone who relates with so much ease to another person with an intellectual disability is a beautiful thing to me. It's a skill I wish I had more opportunity to perfect. This boy may not understand how important it is to be physically healthy, but he has a friend who is helping him get good exercise anyway. Watching those two definitely made my day better. I wish I could've been playing with them. In fact, I would've asked, but I didn't have enough time to stick around after my run because like the other absent gym occupants, I had a dinner to make.

So to the both of you, although I'm sure you'll never read this, THANK YOU for bringing a smile to my face by keeping one on yours! I admire you both. After I got home and reflected on how you made me feel, a quote from Maya Angelou came to mind. "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Thank you for making me feel hopeful that the good people of this world are making a difference one smile at a time!

lovemaura