This is Cliff. I don’t know his whole story but I feel like he’d tell me if I asked. What I do know is, this ‘thumbs up’ isn’t saying, ‘everything is perfect’ … he was demonstrating how he hitchhikes to BC and back to Toronto.

Every Saturday my daughter and her dad get up at the crack of dawn for their Daddy Daughter Donut Date. She lays out her clothes the night before so she can leave the lights dim and get ready for their outing. It’s their thing. 

For years she’s been telling me about this nice old man she sees at Tim Horton’s. Sometimes she buys him a coffee. Sometimes she drops some coins in his cup. Every Christmas they give him a gift card, ‘because everyone deserves kindness (especially) at Christmas.’

That Saturday I asked if I could join her for their date so I could meet this man. I was honestly moved and had a tear in my eye when he called out her name. After all these Saturdays, she only just asked him his name.