Who Gives You Hope?

by, Cindy Laverty

  He plays his sweet saxophone every day by my local grocery store. He stands on the street, because he’s not allowed to play in front of the store, but I always hear him. I know when he’s there, because in spite of the noise from traffic, I hear him because he plays from his heart. I don’t know his name, but I do know his sound and he gives me hope. I’ve often wondered why this lone saxophone player gives me hope? I can’t really explain it except that he embodies goodness. I can see it in his face and I feel it when he plays. His music moves me. I always give him a dollar and he’s incredibly grateful. But he gives me something far more valuable than what I give to him.   Today he was playing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and it brought me to tears. At first I couldn’t figure out why today was so different from any other day and then I realized that he was my connection to what is still good in our world, that he helped me find some hope in the face of the horrific tragedy in Newtown, Read More…