As I sat on a park bench feeding pigeons and people watching, I was alarmed to see what appeared to be an image of an angel. His face was smooth, radiating, & without blemish. His eyes held a captivating ocean blue color. His naturally, relaxed smile, somehow bubbled over with joy. He walked with such a confident stride, that one would think he’d been a general in the military at some point in his life. His shoulders were broad and muscular and his overall demeanor was one of strength yet balanced with a gentle compassion that had an unresisting drawing power.

As I sat there with my hooded sweatshirt, cup of joe, ripped jeans,and sunglasses as a means to hide myself due to social anxiety and low self-esteem, you can imagine my horror when he began to walk towards me. What could he possibly have to say to someone like me? For some reason, other people seemed to go out of their way to avoid encountering him. A mother even scolded her five year old son and hurriedly dragged him away for talking to him. I assumed she was teaching him a lesson about talking to strangers. I get that.

What I didn’t understand is why a woman, that looked like the crypt keeper from an old show that I used to watch, repeatedly scowled at the man as if he were a nuisance. The weird thing is, the man didn’t appear offended by it. It was almost as if he was accustomed to it. He didn’t even seem to notice her appearance, which was very shriveled and malnourished. The weird thing is that she didn’t appear sick from a debilitating disease. She just appeared shallow and self-centered.

Nevertheless, as the man walked up to me, he seemed to hesitate to speak. The awkwardness kind of provided me a sense of comfort as his confident and beautiful frame was intimidating.

As we stared into one another’s eyes for what felt like an eternity but in reality was a few seconds, he meekly asked if I could either spare some change or buy him a meal from the diner across the street as he hadn’t eaten in two days. I was so mesmerized by his confident, beautiful, meek, joyful, and compassionate frame, that it did not strike me at the moment that he’d have a need for anything, especially from someone like me.

It wasn’t until the teenager who was so mesmerized with their phone, absentmindedly stopped behind the man to take a selfie photo, that I realized, the man before me and the man unknowingly photobombing the teenager’s selfie appeared to be two different people.

The phone’s version presented a tattered coat, unkempt hair, and unshaven male figure that appeared to be experiencing homelessness while the person within my eye lens, appeared as one of creation’s most marvelous creatures.

As I sat there and pondered which version to embrace, I decided to choose and use my newly discovered gift wisely by responding, “How do you feel about grabbing a bite to eat from the diner across the street together?” My response seemed to shock him as he searched my eyes for authenticity. As I stared back with a new sense of boldness and confidence, he finally responded with “Ye..yeah sure! I’d love that!”

Paul is such an amazing person. I am ashamed to say that had it not been for my gift, I would have never learned his name or even considered the beautiful gift of his friendship. Paul can sing, play piano,and dance better than Michael Jackson and Gene Kelly combined. Paul is a Vietnam veteran. He served in the military for twenty five years before severe PTSD began to disrupt his life. Paul’s family abandoned him due to not being very familiar with how to best support and eventual frustration with lack of support from Veteran Affairs.

Although Paul had experienced some very harsh circumstances, he never lost his hope and joy. It shined so brightly, even in the midst of people’s disdain and constant rejection of him. Paul and I have had lunch at the same diner, once a week for the last five years. I look forward to it, because he is always such a joy to be around. At first he was guarded but he eventually became comfortable enough to open up to me about his mental health challenges. The beautiful thing is, I had been promoted to Clinical Director at the local VA the week prior to meeting Paul. With time, I was able to connect him to a psychiatrist, support group, veteran benefits, and a housing program specifically designed for veterans. Paul eventually met a nice woman who was also a veteran and he is now remarried.

The gift of seeing another’s internal qualities is not far fetched if we’d simply stop being engulfed within our own section of the park to really see another section without hasty judgement.