On my way to work each morning I pass a school bus stop where sleepy children await their bus. There is always a small group already arrived, and always a tall thin boy with brown hair and a short thin girl with long blond hair. They stand together, separate from the rest of the kids, faded hand-me-down clothes a little too big or a little too small, never just right, and never what the other kids are wearing.

It was forty degrees this morning. Steam rose in plumes from the sewer grates and the streets were slick with water from last night’s rain. I love the cool air.

As I turned the corner I could see the boy and girl standing at the curb, waiting for their morning bus ride to school. She was wearing a huge royal blue jacket, and he had on a grey and red sweater. She was standing in front of him, just a bit, and yawned. He took a bite of a muffin he’d eaten half of, and he held it out to her over her shoulder just as I passed them.

The familiarity and the generosity made me smile.