A funny thing happened on the way to a movie screening...

Yesterday, my daughter and I were invited to a movie screening for "Autumn Gem" a documentary on China's first feminist, Qiu Jin (by Rae Chang – Writer, Director, Co-Producer and Adam Tow – Cinematographer, Editor, Co-Producer - www.autumn-gem.com)

We were running late from an appointment across town, and the movie was at the ASU campus in Tempe. Not used to parking around the college, we found one of the last spots available that had a meter. I dug out as much change from my purse, but still a couple quarters short, we walked to the nearest restaurant and asked for change. "Sorry, no change unless you buy something!" Frustrating!

As we walked back to my car, I weighed the risk of being a few minutes short on the meter vs parking ticket, when a couple got out of their car next to ours - I walked over and asked if they had change, which, thankfully they did. As we started to walk away to feed our thirsty meter, the man spoke up, "Excuse me, I know this sounds strange, but can we film you? We're making a video for YouTube on the power of Free Hugs?"

The woman asked my daughter, who is 7, "Is it okay if I give you a hug?" Which my daughter promptly, said, "No thank you!" "Okay, how about if we film you giving your Mom a hug?"

So, thank you to Richard Wilson, for allowing us an opportunity to stop and smell the roses - having a great hug from my daughter put it all in perspective! Here is Richard's YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAiutfCI7e0