Meet Doddie!

Every morning while walking back from my children's bus stop I meet Doddie strolling from the other direction. She is a 'lunch lady' at another school in my neighborhood. She has a 'special mind', as I explained to my kids, and loves to stop and wave and coo at my 9 month old. As she bends over to tickle my baby, I can see the grey roots showing through her dark brown dye, and when we talk, I notice that she has several teeth missing, either because she never learned proper teeth hygiene or can't afford proper dental care. But she is beautiful in spite of all this.
Every morning she gives me my own personal weather forcast, "It's going to be 89' at 4:00 today but its 73' now". Once, she quoted the bible to point out the glory of God in the sunrise through the clouds. She also gives me other random facts like "its world smile day" or today is "skeptic" day (you don't believe me?). She asks what I did for the weekend and then tells me about the latest movie she saw. She recommends 'City of Ember'.
One afternoon I saw her waiting for the city bus and offered to give her a ride instead. I found out that she lives in a home built by Habitat for Humanity and its a darling little home just perfect for her.
As we part our ways she always tells me "God Bless You" and you know what, I feel blessed. I am blessed to have what I have and know what I know and especially lucky to have such a special friend like Doddy. So if your out and about, and you see a short, older woman in a red jacket (red is her favorite) with dark hair and a pleasant smile, stop and introduce yourself. You will have the chance to meet a truly beautiful person, and you will feel blessed because of it.