We were out walking pupster at the park this evening. A nice old gentleman in overalls came up and handed me a dog biscuit that was as big as pupster's head and said "here, this is for your dog."

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I told him, no, that's way too big for her. She can't eat all that -- keep it and give it to your dog. He said, well, just break off a piece and give it to her, and put the rest in your pocket for later. I said OK and gave pupster a piece.

The Mrs. asked the old man if he had a dog. He said no, he didn't have a dog, but his neighbor did, and the dog spent more time at his house than it did at his neighbor's. The Mrs. commented that he must be very loving towards the dog. He said that sometimes it seemed like he took better care of it than his neighbor.

We talked for a bit. I gave him a piece of the dog biscuit to give to pupster so they could make friends. Then he pulled a quarter out of his pocket. He said he had just now found it lying in the road, a little ways up the street. He said here, take this. I said I appreciate that, but keep it and give it to your grandkids or something. He said something odd, something like "you're better than my grandkids right now, so I want you to have this." I wasn't exactly sure what he meant, but I took the quarter. Maybe he meant right now, as in some percieved opportunity before him at that moment? Who knows?

I thanked him for his kindness, and he said something like "if the Lord isn't taking care of you, I will." Or something like that. We departed, and as he walked away he said "if the Lord is in your heart, he'll take care of you."

I guess he was out witnessing or something, but who knows? Random encounters are strange that way. At any rate, it was a kind and gentle brand of witnessing, if that's what it was.

So now I'm thinking, what am I supposed to do with this quarter? Then it occurred to me that I should pay it forward. So I donated a modest gift of $25 to the Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans, multiplying the old man's kind gesture by a factor of 100 (monetarily speaking, at least). Maybe that's what he had in mind. Or maybe he just wanted me to have this quarter he found. Who knows?

Anyway, I think I will keep the quarter as a reminder to perform the occasional random act of kindness, and as a reminder that we all need to "pay it forward" from time to time.

I'll feed the gigantic dog biscuit to pupster one bite at a time, and think of the old man each time I give her a piece.