Love everyone but stay safe

Friday morning, I went out to the park across the street from my apartment where I always run. But this time was different. There was a man sitting alone on a bench. In spite of the warm humid air, he was wrapped in a blanket.

"Are you okay?" I asked "Do you need help?"

He looked back with saucer-sized eyes and continued to rock backwards and forwards.

I wanted to help. So I jogged over to the police station in my building and pointed the man out to the policeman getting on his motorcycle. I wanted to stay safe and I wanted the man to be safe, too. The policemen took him somewhere, hopefully safer for everyone than the park bench next to my building.

That day, my best friend told me what happened to her, and it has stuck in my mind since. She was on her way to Yom Kippur services. It was about dusk and a women was walking dangerously close to traffic in a busy road, so my friend pulled over and asked if she needed help. The young women's waitress uniform even had her name on it, so she looked harmless. The women seemed upset, so my friend asked if she could take her to her family, a friend or home.

As the women got into the front seat, my friend looked into the back to her three teen and pre-teen kids' mouths gaping open. Speechless.

The women started talking about her boyfriend. My friend drove and listened. Eventually, my friend, a divorced mom who left the father of her children because he was an abuser, asked the women if her boyfriend ever hit her. The single girl said yes. My friend kept driving and said she would not take her to him. Instead, she dropped her off at a church where she could get help.

When my friend and her children reached the temple, she turned around and reminded her kids to never ever do what she just did. They missed most of the high holiday service, but something tells me the rabbi would have been okay with the reasons.

As a single girl, who was married to an alcoholic and a man full of insults and violent threats, my passion is a local place that helps families affected by domestic violence. I don't do as much as I should, but I'll try to do more as I get better myself.

Whatever it takes, stay safe.

Love to the single girls,
Addison