Something To Write Home About

"If those who owe us nothing gave us nothing, how poor we would be."
-Antonio Porchia

A colleague of my Spouse's once needed a taxi in Sweden. He saw one, sat into the cab and asked the driver to take him to a certain hotel, one which was part of a chain and vast in size.
The colleague happened to have a set of directions which would involve the car being navigated through several extremely busy streets. He told the driver specifically where to go and relayed his own version of how to get there.
The driver looked at the fellow, and said,
"I could take you. But see that gate over there?"
The colleague did see.
"That happens to be another entrance to the hotel. As I said, I could drive you, but..."
There was no financial gain to be had by telling the passenger this information; a taxi driver insistent on following directions and making money could just as easily have spent the next thirty minutes in traffic earning a princely sum.
It turns out, though, that people are not all selfish and thoughtless as the world would have us believe they are.
This weekend just past was nothing short of splendid. Spouse and I have found a place where kindness is willingly offered and nothing is expected or demanded in return.
It strikes us again as utterly unselfish and we are at a true loss as to how to extend gratitude toward people who appear, with their close knit family and simple, self sufficient living, to have everything.
Per Spouse's request, a member of the family took time to make his way over to our friends' house, examine our car and deem it roadworthy- an issue which has bothered us for some time both because of the awful noises that emanate from it on a regular basis and because honest mechanics are not as plentiful as they ought to be. After sacrificing hours of his weekend the fellow at first refused to take any money for his time and his assistance and for his furious battle with ravenous mosquitoes.
It is something to be welcomed into a family and to immediately be treated like we belong instead of as a passing visitor.
We gladly trundled home with:
one freshwater trout, caught that morning and generously offered with pride; two large loaves of sausage bread; an armful of rhubarb; a dozen warm hen eggs; two twice-baked potatoes filled with sour cream and chives; a container of delicious pasta salad; a living chive plant; a package of bacon; both frozen and cooked vegetables; countless chocolate cookies and six handmade chocolate pies.
Like the aforementioned taxi driver who gained nothing monetary, instead something more important, and like the family that wraps its good nature around us without hesitation, there are bright spots in the world, and people who are inherently good, and it is not- cannot be- limited to our experience.
We have been so very fortunate.