"I'm sorry for getting testy with you on Friday"

Said the older man to the younger postal worker this Tuesday morning while I was waiting in line to pick up a package. I watched the older man move slowly, aided by a cane and with intent walk right up to the younger postal worker’s station and apologize. I wasn’t there on Friday and know nothing of the encounter that transpired a few days ago, but I witnessed a subtle moment of repair, a man was remorseful for his behavior and needed to name his remorse to the man he felt he had harmed. It was a gift to witness the vulnerability in front of a bustling scene of strangers, as the postal worker nodded and smiled, visibly relieving the weight of the elder man’s guilt. 

Witnessing that interaction opened up some tenderness in me. In witnessing the power of a heartfelt apology, I was moved to repair with my son from an incident earlier in the day wherein I had reacted with anger during a moment when I sought to control a situation that isn’t easy nor necessary to control. So later that same day I apologized to my son for my earlier judgmental demeanor and harsh words I had spoken to him for his minor inconvenience to our morning routine. In witnessing an act of repair I was encouraged to do the same.