Everyday Doug and/or I walk our dog Ella around the park right in front of our apartment. As you come around the far side of the park, there is an inlet with a small beach (yes Hoboken has a beach, LOL). The beach is mainly used by dog owners because it’s enclosed with a fence so the dogs can’t escape. And up off this little beach is a small hill that is covered with a few trees and many shrubs until it ultimately runs into a fence—and that’s where a young houseless woman lives.

I can’t see her in the summer due to the foliage, but now winter is approaching and all the leaves are gone. She used to have a tent, but that’s gone now too. Every day as I walk around the park freezing and bundled in my hat, coat, and gloves, I think of her. I look over and ask myself, “How is she surviving?” I wouldn’t make one night. I barely get through the 10 minute dog walking without speeding up so I can get back into my building. Her whole situation really makes me think.

I get to see a part of this woman’s life every day, and I know we don’t have a similar journey at all—this is an extreme, I know. Everyone’s life is different. We all have our own challenges, some greater than others. But when we don’t physically see the challenges every day or hear about them, we assume they aren’t there. Everyone you and I run into today—at work and everywhere else—has challenges. We don’t need to fix them, we simply don’t need to add to them. So maybe today we look at everyone through an empathetic lens—it costs nothing and who cares if we’re wrong. It all begins with us.

Let’s GO!! WE GOT THIS!
Beth Fitzgerald