I worked as a nanny while I was going through college. There was a gorgeous park close to their house that I would drive my charges to. It had a massive, new playground and 40 acres of nature trails that led to a pond. We spent many days there because it was never busy and always had tons to do.

On this particular day, it was only me and one of the boys. No one else was there. We played on the playground for a while, then took off for the trails. It was nice only having one child to look after instead of four. I gave the child more breathing room to use his imagination and watched him from a distance, smiling. The three year old was chasing geese and it was as hilarious as it was heartwarming.

I noticed an elder in traditional Sikh gear sitting about 20 yards away on a bench. He was watching us. Normally, my spidey senses would alert for danger when a man watches us, but there was something so calming about him. He saw me look in his direction and started waving his hands, instructing me to come over. My charge was distracted at a safe distance, the man seemed friendly, so I approached.

The closer I got the harder he patted the bench, instructing me to sit down. I did. But I couldn’t understand him. We didn’t speak the language. I felt embarrassed and didn’t know what to do. He was very adamant on telling me the same thing over and over. It felt important and it felt personal to me. I apologized and said, “I’m so sorry! I only speak English. I don’t know what you’re saying.”

He smiled so big and fell silent. He sweetly grabbed my right hand and cupped it in both of his. He started pointing at my change and saying something while laughing. I felt him and his pure energy. I felt like I knew him from another life, which at the time was odd because I was an atheist. I didn’t want to let go of him. He brought a peace to my soul that I haven’t felt since.

My charge started bolting fast, so I had to go. I turned to him and said, “Thank you.” He squeezed my hand and let me go, rambling something joyous as I left.

This happened over 7 years ago, but it’s one of the most influential moments of my life. Did we know each other in another life? Was he a nice man just saying I was doing a good job raising a child? Was he talking about the beautiful weather? I’ll never know.

But the one thing I do know is, he cared. He wasn’t deterred by the impossible language barrier. He had a message to give me and he trusted that it would get across. He gave me a memory to hold onto forever and in it I only remember comfortably holding hands with a stranger, a beautiful spring day, peace, and children’s laughter.

What a beautiful gift…