This is my driver Jacob. He was sent to pick me up and take me three hours on a drive inland in Mexico to where I’ll be working.

As we were driving he started to tell me his story. As most of you know I like to chat and I like to get to know people & their stories.

He shared with me that since the pandemic he had had to change jobs and was currently spending six days a week away from his family in a town that had more work.

He mentioned the name of his families hometown ‘nah bok’ and shared that he had to spend five hours on his only day off on the three different buses to get there and back to spend one day with them.

My father had worked away when I was young. Sometimes away for weeks and months at a time. I remember us kids waiting for our turn to have just a couple of minutes on the phone with him back before we had Skype.

So two hours into our drive when I saw a sign saying Nah Bok I asked him if that was where his family lives. He said yes it was about 5 miles down the road.

I said why don’t we stop and say hello. He looked at me like I was crazy or joking and I said again why don’t we stop. He obviously didn’t want to get in any trouble. He was hesitant and asked if I was sure. I absolutely was. What was 30 minutes out of my day when this man was spending five hours and three buses to get to spend some time with his kids.

As we pulled over his wife was chatting on the side of the road with her mother. They were so excited to see him. All of the children came out and I got to hear a little bit about each of their lives.

Be kind.

Slow down and listen to people stories.

Take the time where you can to give a gift to somebody else even if it’s just your time.