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Meet George Washington Young, from Suddenly Rural Girl

Dakota Moore is a conflicted teen wrestling with faith and friendship, and each new person she meets brings a new adventure.

Mr. Young stepped toward me and extended his hands. I leaned my face forward, and his shaky fingers gently found my chin and cheek bones. He lightly traced the edges of my face, seeing by touch the face of a nearly 14-year-old he’d recently come to care for. George Washington Young was old, blind, and a pocketful of kindness. He was the kind of treasure you didn’t know you needed but can’t imagine living without. And it was all wrapped up in a pair of faded overalls and a smile.

He also offers wisdom that comes from age and experience:

“Some folks didn’t like them Bashkir Curly’s on account of how they look a little different,” Mr. Young answered. “Let’s keep prayin’ folks quit judgin’ things by how they look.”

And a friendship can be made that span roads and generations.

He pulled his hands away, and his eyes showed more kindness than I’ve seen in most folks with perfect vision…Mr. Young and I were two people separated by a gravel road and eighty years, and I could have at least told him how much a lost and lonely girl from Michigan appreciated his kindness, his unlikely friendship.

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