It doesn't take much...

to change a life .

This week, Shelly, a childhood friend I’m still close with, reached out to me in a state of panic. For background, we’re originally from the western suburbs of Chicago, but Shelly now lives further west near Joliet. Shelly was a career airline mechanic, but is now semi retired.

She holds a part time job at a local gas station to make ends meet and to keep herself busy. At her job, Shelly meets all kinds of of people, (including MAGA, which she handles with more grace than I could muster), and has lots of interesting stories.

Anyway, earlier this week, a young lady with a baby came into her work. They began chatting and Shelly soon learned that the young mom had recently become homeless, having left an abusive relationship.

Seeing the young mom was very sweet and loving to her baby, Shelly took her under her wing and into her home. The next morning Shelly reached out to me to ask if I knew of any shelters in area, specifically for women leaving an abusive relationship.

I knew of one from long ago. But I told Shelly to find out if the young lady would prefer to be close to her family, wherever that may be. We learned that she was originally from New York City. So I offered to fly her back to her family in New York. With tears in her eyes she clearly rejoiced at the idea of returning home.

So, I booked a local comfortable hotel for her to rest up for a few nights. Then using miles I booked her and the baby a direct flight from ORD to JFK. Shelly spent the next couple days taking her shopping for essentials for mom and baby, since they only had the clothes on their backs.

The hotel in that remote area was nice and not expensive. It only took 25,000 miles for a one-way flight, plus $35 to check baggage. But for only 4,000 more miles, I upgraded her to first class with free checked bags. Why not!

They flew back home on Wednesday, July 23rd, just in time to celebrate the baby’s first birthday with family on July 24th.

All this to say, it doesn’t take much to change someone’s stars. Shelly did all the heavy lifting. But working together as a team, we got them safely home.

This is not to say everyone has to take such a hands-on approach to helping others. Sometimes it’s just donating airline miles. Sometimes it’s showing up to protests and sharing photos with friends on social media so they are inspired to get out and protest, and to VOTE.

We are all in this together. We do what we can. It all matters.

Namaste.

July 17th Good Trouble Protests Downtown Los Angeles.

Great signs.

Of course, I had to capture street style.

Timeline Cleanse

Last night, Floofles came into the bedroom for the first time. 😻