The hippie era is a long time gone. But whenever I think of hippies I smile. I have a soft spot in my heart for them because they showed my mom and me kindness when no one else did.It was 1972 and my mom was pregnant. She was walking home from a day at work. She was an immigrant and cleaned for a living. Not the easies job in the world by the way. She made her money mopping floors and scrubbing toilets.
At this particular time in Boston history, there were not very many Latinos living in Boston. We were the latest wave of immigrants to this country. And as many of you know, new immigrants are sometimes viewed with distrust and sometimes even disgust.
While making her way home my mom, who at the time was the same age I am now, didn't feel well. She worked the whole day, she was tired, pregnant and knowing my mom, probably skipped lunch. Down she went...she collapsed onto a Boston street.
My mom told me how nauseous she was, she felt dizzy and weak and was unable to stand. She asked people for help as they walked by, but no one stopped to help her. I guess they didn't want to get their hands dirty helping a dirty immigrant...but that's just me being bitchy. She had never felt so alone and helpless in her life, she she buried her face in her hand and started to cry.
The she felt someone touch her shoulder. The first thing she noticed were a pair of the dirties bare feet she had ever seen. She looked up and saw that she was surrounded by hippies. She didn't know what to make of these three men and a woman who were standing over her. Each one of them had long hair...wore lose flowing clothes...big ol' bell bottoms...and they smelled of inscense, essential oils and a whole lot of that natural aroma we all buy deoderant to hide.
To her surprise the woman just sat down on the sidewalk next to her and spoke to her in the most beautiful Spanish. Turns out this woman had spent three years back packing through Central America so she could be with the people. I always thought that sounded funny...just going somewhere "to be with the people." These hippies sat with her to make sure she was alright. They pulled together whatever change they had and bought her a cup of tea. And they walked her home. And she never saw them again. My mom felt like God sent her four angels...dirty angels...but angels none the less.
Even today, my mom likes watching footage of the 60s and Woodstock. And I will always have a soft spot in my heart for hippies because they stepped in and helped my mom when no one else would. Since I was in her belly, I guess you could say they helped me too.
Peace.
What a touching story Sonia. Random acts of kindness always give me a reason to smile.
ReplyDeletethere will always be a measurable component of human decency.... thank God for these people...
ReplyDeleteyeah...they were cool..."like...wow man" i remember them well, heck, my oldest sister is in her 50's and i clearly remember her wearing bell bottom jeans, rhinestones in her navel, peace, love and all of that aesthetic stuff...i was born in the 60's so i remember a lot about it...my grandfather was a professor at NYU so he lived in the village and when we used to visit him we used to walk through washington square park. as a little girl i used to see people with flowers in their hair, playing guitars, dancing, selling things, wearing flowing clothing and everything was like...wow...peace maaan, they'd just sit on the sidewalk or wherever there were at the time and just...LOVE people...like wow maaan...the 60's was something but your story told something even more...i liked it and enjoyed it and...THANK YOU FOR SHARING!
ReplyDeleteHey guys! Thanks for the comments! This story is very special to me for several reasons, its an example of human kindness and compassion for a stranger. And with the state of the world today, we could use a few hippies here and there. I miss them.
ReplyDeleteDuring that time the Hippies were probably well aware of being treating with distrust and disgust for the same reason your mom was, they were different, different than the "normal, standard" faces that people were use to seeing. I grew up in the Hippie era where Peace and Love was the way of life. Oh man you brought back some groovy, uptight, outta sight memories. Thanks and God bless Hippies.
ReplyDeleteTheir motto was PEACE LOVE AND HAPPINESS.....How can you go wrong with that??
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