16 Jul Tiny Generosities
When the Diamondbacks game ended, thousands of people spilled out of the stadium and gathered outside to watch the Fourth of July fireworks.
Music drifted through the plaza while little kids zigzagged through the crowd wearing blinking red, white, and blue necklaces. Families stood together with their faces tipped toward the sky, waiting for the next burst of color.
A young couple nearby was trying to fit themselves and the fireworks into a selfie. They stretched out an arm, looked at the screen, laughed, and tried again.
Just a few feet away, another group stood together watching the show. Every few minutes, the colorful bursts gave way to hundreds of tiny lights that shimmered before drifting slowly back to earth. Each time, she pointed toward the sky. “Those are my favorite,” I heard her say.
Then her eyes found the couple nearby.
She tapped the young woman on the shoulder and asked if she’d like her to take their picture.
For the next five minutes, she gave them her full attention.
She stepped back until the fireworks filled the sky behind them. She crouched lower for one shot, then stood back up for another. She pinched and spread her fingers across the screen, stepped back another pace, tilted the phone just slightly, and waited for another burst of color before taking one more picture, just in case.
She handed the phone back with both hands, gently, waiting until they had it before letting go.
Then she slipped her hands back into her pockets, stepped back beside her friends, and turned toward the sky again.
She spent part of her own experience helping someone else keep theirs.
It was one of the loveliest things I saw all night.
What a beautiful kind of generosity: spending part of your own joy helping someone else hold on to theirs.