Balloons, balloons

Nalini loves balloons. In fact, we don't miss a single opportunity to bring a balloon back home when we meet one in the course of the day. Yesterday, it was one of these days - we left the grocery store with two balloons - a pink one for Nalini, a orange one for Taj. Only that when we were getting off the car, Nalini was holding to the balloons, but they espcaped her hand. The pink balloon went bye-bye high up in the sky, and we wished him a good trip. The orange balloon got trapped at the tree in front of our house, which caused a lot of anxiety and tears. It was hanging off one of the lowest branches, just a little too high for someone to jump and get it. What's a mom to do in such a situation? I picked Nalini up, and together, we stood by the street watching the cars go by - I told her we would try to find some help. Soon, an SUV goes by, a guy in sunglasses driving in it with open windows, enjoying the beautiful day. I wave, he stops and I say: "Can I ask you for a big favor? Could you help us get the balloon down from this tree?". He took my request very seriously. Immediately, he got off the car and ran up to the tree, only to find out that the ballon had managed to make his way up to the highest branches of the tree in this meantime. I said "Oh no, I guess now we can't get it anymore", but his answer was: "No way!". And with determination, he climbed up the tree all the way to its highest branches, reaching up to the balloon and fetching it before it could make its way to the blue sky. He handed the orange fugitive to me and jumped back down to the ground, landing on his sunglasses. We thanked him very much for his rescue, and offered to pay for the broken glasses, but he just smiles and said: "Don't worry, that's just one of the cheap ones. I have four of those in the car." And with this same spirit, he gets back in his car, puts on a new pair of sunglasses, and waves us a have-a-good-weekend. And off he continues on his way home, leaving behind a happy toddler girl and her orange balloon.

I love these demonstrations of kindness one randomly runs across in life... :)