She was short and pleasantly plump, wearing a puffy turquoise winter coat that came down to about her knees covering up most of her legs, making her seem shorter than she already was. It looked like a coat I would've worn in elementary school. Same style, same color scheme. Black pants tucked into tall, yellow rubber boots added to her ensamble. Her wispy, wirey black hair contained bits of beautiful gray which stuck out under her black Blossom-style hat.

I first saw her struggling with an armful of books. Her brash voice punctured the silence of the library. Asking for a couple of sacks to put her books in, she shuffled toward the exit. One of her sacks floated to the ground. I picked it up,
"Excuse me, ma'am, you dropped your bag."
"Oh, thank you!"
"Would you like some help bagging those up?"
"Yeah, I would!"
She sat on the bench and shoveled books into the plastic sacks I was holding. She controlled the conversation,
"I probably shouldn't have gotten these, but they were free books. I can't resist free books! I'll keep some of them, but I'll give some of them away too. Make sure these sacks aren't too heavy, I don't want them to break. It'd serve me right if they did break, though!"
I helped load her up with package after package and sack after sack. She probably had six bags in all to carry with her. We left the library, and she left me with a quick, "Gotta catch my bus!"

And that was it.

I smiled to myself as I watched this unique women cross the street and head to the bus stop. Shuffling in her rubber boots and Blossom hat with her packages banging together, I realized I had met someone who was completely and wonderfully herself. She was who she was made to be.

We need more of that in the world.