Live Between Steps
IllustrationStory★★★★A professor was invited to speak at a military base and was met at the airport by a soldier named Ralph. As they headed toward the baggage claim area, Ralph kept disappearing—once to help an older woman with her suitcase, once to lift two toddlers so they could see Santa Claus, and again to give someone directions. The professor asked him, “Where did you learn to live like that?” Ralph said, “During the war.” He had served in Vietnam. His job was to clear minefields, and he saw friends die suddenly, one after another, before his eyes. He said, “I never knew whether the next one would be my last, so I learned to live between steps.”
The point
A war veteran, Ralph, learned in Vietnam to live between steps, never knowing which would be his last, so he helps everyone he encounters—illustrating gratitude for life.