Guest columnist Edward Orzechowski: The man who waves at cars

David C. Sanborn waves as cars pass the Rockridge Retirement Community in Northampton.

David C. Sanborn waves as cars pass the Rockridge Retirement Community in Northampton. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS

By EDWARD ORZECHOWSKI

Published: 12-31-2024 10:50 AM

A few days before Christmas, I was driving up North King Street, Route 5 in Northampton, on my way to drop off cookies my wife had made for my sister and brother-in-law in Hatfield. And there he was. The man who waves at cars.

I had seen this guy before, always at the same spot. He sits in a wheelchair, one of those beefy motorized ones, just beyond the sidewalk in front of the Rockridge Retirement Community, and waves at passing cars. Enthusiastically, like a child watching a parade. Some drivers toot their horns, and return a wave from inside their vehicles. That stretch of road gets a steady flow of traffic — so many cars, so many waves.

I don’t pass this way often, but when I do, I look for him. And if he’s not there, I wonder why. I had come to depend on him, and maybe others had as well. Who is he, I wondered. Does he have family? What were his life challenges and successes before ending up here, waving at passing cars? And why does he do this?

On the day after Christmas, the Gazette featured a large photograph on its front page. It was the man who waves at cars. Buckled into his wheelchair, he’s dressed in a dark blue winter jacket and baseball cap. He has a Santa Claus belly and a salt-and-pepper beard, heavy on the salt. He’s wearing tinted glasses, but no gloves — and he’s waving. His bare fingers, a bit curled, form a V, the peace symbol.

A caption beneath the photo reads in part: “David C. Sanborn sits outside the Rockridge Retirement Community in Northampton and waves as cars pass by. As people honk and wave back, Sanborn explains, ‘When I wave it’s a blessing. It’s a blessing I’m giving to everyone. I’m praying for the world.’”

A backpack hangs from the rear of his wheelchair. Protruding from it are two American flags, the size you’d see in a cemetery. Is he a disabled veteran? It doesn’t matter. What matters is that this man is living in the moment, delivering blessings to complete strangers — a loving gesture in the waning days of a turbulent year. The Pope himself couldn’t do better.

We all pass each other in this life, often in very brief encounters. Thank God for those who spread cheer along the way, if even for a fleeting moment from the side of the road.

So many cars — so many blessings. Thank you, David C. Sanborn. 

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Edward Orzechowski lives in Florence.