The James Way Dancing Lady
CHRIS STRASSER W
hoa! Did I just see a lady dancing down James Way? I looked in the rearview mirror to correct an image I thought couldn’t be true. Runners, joggers, walkers, and mothers pushing their babes in strollers were all familiar. But a dancer? Adults don’t dance on the streets, unless…
Judythe Guarnera
I drove to the entrance to the parkway to walk—very sedately compared to her. But, that day I sensed a little extra spring in my step.
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The next time I saw her, something inside me stirred. She looked so happy. It was then I noticed her earphones and her body twisting gracefully. She seemed oblivious to those driving by.
Don, who’d recently lost his wife, admitted he saw her regularly, and each time she raised his spirits.
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Some weeks later, when Don, a friend who lives in the neighborhood was riding with me, we passed her, eyes closed, head bobbing with the music I imagined coming from her earphones.
The third time I passed her, my car involuntarily f lipped a U in the middle of the street and I pulled up at the curb, just ahead of her. I needed to know more. She opened her eyes and grinned at me. As we chatted, she related that people wave, honk their horns, and sometimes stop to talk.
The Freedom of Kindness Issue 2019