The World's Greatest Harmonica Player

Tonight on the bus home from the gym, I had the most amazing encounter ever. There were very few seats and one of them happened to be next to the requisite homeless guy on the bus. He was dirty, smelled of alcohol, and held a tattered Bible in his lap. I noticed there was one seat open toward the back and one in the middle. But tonight those were not meant for me.

Get out of your comfort zone, my inner monologue insisted.

So I did - without hesistation I sat down next to him. After a sharp turn, he made a joke about centrifugal force knocking him out of his seat. He introduced himself as Daniel and asked me my name.

"Jay." I extended my hand and he shook it warmly.
"Short for Jason?"
"Just Jay."
"Not like Jason & the Argonauts, then?"
"Nope."
"Well, Jay - would you like to sign my Bible?"
"Sign it?," I asked, not sure if I'd heard right.

He opened it to a map of the Holy Lands - it was filled with signatures, as were both the front and back inside flap .

"You can sign here in the Mediterranean Sea." Honored, I took his pen and signed, "Daniel - God Bless. Jay." I'm not religious at all, but I meant every word of it. For a few short minutes we talked - he told of how he was headed to the hospital at the end of the bus route, how he'd just been to court (I never did find out why), and showed me a few of the signatures, making sure to tell me a little bit about each person with whom he had shared his Bible. He joked as he flipped the pages, "The Pope's in here somewhere. Just kidding - don't want the electricity to come get me." We talked of his time as a Marine in Vietnam, his estrangement from his family, of my cousin in the Marines. Near the end of our time together, he turned to me and said, "Jay, I may be an old dirty drunk, but God's looked out for me. I've fought like a lion but kept the heart of a lamb. No matter what life throws at you, try and do the same."

I was speechless - and my stop was fast approaching.

Without missing a beat, he then told me he was the best harmonica player I'd ever meet.
"Ever heard of John Popper, Jay?"
"Definitely."
"Well, he's the only one better'n me."

I told him my stop was next. "I'll play a short one for you then." It was the most beautiful music I've ever heard in my life.

As I stood up, he thanked me for sitting with him.

"Anytime, Daniel. God bless. Take care of yourself"
"I'm trying. God bless you more, Jay."

If circumstances had been different, I'd have stayed on that bus until Daniel's stop. I'd have gone to the hospital with him, sat and talked for hours. But I had groceries in hand and work the next morning. The ten minutes (!) we had were all we were fated to, I guess. Keeping that lamb's heart is a challenge I take seriously.

And I will never hear another harmonica again without thinking of Daniel.

This post was sponsored by the Life Is Sweet Committee.