I Wonder What Their Story Is

​Because I have lived so many stories in my life, I am always curious about other peoples' stories.

Because no one really knows the full depth of the stories in my life, I am forever curious about the depths of other peoples' stories.

I walked behind this man and his dogs yesterday morning while chasing an ocean sunrise. I wondered: what are THEY chasing?

I wondered, did the man recently lose someone in his life and the dogs have become his comfort.

His best friends.

Or did the man rescue the dogs, and they have joyfully decided he is THEIR best friend.

Maybe he JUST rescued them ,and the dogs are taking their first stroll along a beach?

Maybe the man is giving his spouse a chance to sleep in; I'll walk the dogs this morning dear.

Maybe the man is a war veteran. The dogs are his emotional support system. Maybe friends who deeply love him and worry about him gifted him the dogs.

Maybe the dogs remind him of the first puppy from his youth, a dog that represented happier days.

Maybe his dogs and their morning stroll are his way of escaping his youth, unhappier days.

Maybe the man is tired, they've gone so far, yet he trudges on because he knows in the dogs' souls they have not gone far enough.

Maybe this is their weekend retreat. The dogs lay on a couch looking out the window toward the beach all week long, longing for those sunrise walks with their friend, while the man works away at a job whose only respite seems to come in those weekend getaways.

I don't know what the story is. I just know there is one.

We all have them, but I don't think we stop and take enough time to wonder about them.

It's a shame.

Empathy fuels all that is beautiful in this world. It really does.

And empathy starts with:

I wonder what his story is?

Hers?

Theirs?

There are stories around us everywhere.

Wonder about them.