We all have memories of people we pass by regularly on our daily travels.   In front of our house, on the bus, at work.

 

These people are part of our personal landscape. Though seen regularly, we often may never actually converse with them.   

 

There was an older man who walked past my house on his way to the grocery store. His back was so bent that even with his brace he was facing straight down to the pavement.  He couldn’t look up or forward, just to the side.

 

Not long ago, out of the blue,  I realized that I hadn’t seen him in a while.

 

Concerned and curious, I decided to ask another one of the regular passerby’s if she had any news about the old man.   Like the old man’s bent back, this lady had her own quirk – every 50 feet or so, as she walks along the sidewalk, she stops, turns, and looks back from where she has just come.   She repeats this walk, stop, turn, and look back all along her route.

 

I don’t know her name, but if I am outside in the driveway when she walks by

she always says hello and asks about the health of my family.

 

I asked her about the old bent man. She didn’t seem sure who I was asking about.

 

I haven’t seen the man since.