Valentine’s Day—a celebration of love, warmth, and togetherness. A day when people exchange flowers, chocolates, and heartfelt words. But as my youngest son and I stepped out to pick up a few groceries, we were reminded that love is not just in the big gestures but in the quiet, often unnoticed acts of kindness that define our humanity.
The roads were congested, traffic backed up in both directions. The world was moving fast, everyone in a hurry to get to their destinations. That’s when we saw him—a man struggling in the deep snow, a cane slipping from his grasp, his body exhausted from repeated attempts to stand. He carried his life in a backpack and a bag of aluminum cans. He was cold, dirty, and alone.
And yet, no one stopped.
Cars passed by. Pedestrians walked around. Windows stayed rolled up. It was as if he was invisible.
We couldn’t ignore him. My son and I parked the car and made our way back up the uncleared sidewalk. The snow was deep, the air biting, but it was clear—we had to help.
When we reached him, he was still struggling, exhaustion written all over his face. We reached out, lifting him again and again as he tried to find his footing. Through it all, not a single other person stopped. Not even to ask if we were okay.
As we helped him to his feet, he looked at me and apologized. “I’m sorry I’m not clean,” he said.
But in that moment, I wondered—who was truly unclean? The man who had fallen in the snow, or the world that had turned its back on him?
He told us he was making his way to the Bridges shelter, a place of refuge in the cold night. Once he was steady on his feet, he thanked us and continued on his way. We watched as he disappeared down the road, our hearts heavy, yet full of something deeper—an understanding that love isn’t just words or gifts. Love is action. Love is stopping when no one else will. Love is showing our children that kindness is not an obligation but a responsibility.
This is the lesson I wanted my son to learn—not from books, not from speeches, but from life itself. Love isn’t just for those closest to us. Love is for the stranger in the snow.
So today, I ask—how have we lost sight of our neighbours? How have we forgotten what it means to care? Have we become so consumed by our lives that we no longer see the suffering around us?
The world needs more big love. The kind that stops in the cold. The kind that lifts the fallen. The kind that reminds us we are all connected.
And maybe, just maybe, if we all chose to love a little bigger, the world wouldn’t feel so cold after all.
💛 Let love be found in us.
