GOOD NEI GHBOURS

A heartwarming collection of stories about community and kindness

- Cathy Free

THE SUNSHINE MAYOR 

Almost eight years ago, Al Nixon decided to begin each day from a bench with a spec tacular view of the St Petersburg, Florida, waterfront. “I call it ‘life rising’ because watching a sunrise makes me feel centred before starting my day,” said Nixon, who works for the city’s water department. A year later, a woman stopped to say hello, and she said something that changed his perspective on his daily ritual. “She said, ‘You know, every morning when I see you sitting here, I know that everything is going to be OK,’ ” Nixon recalled. “That’s when I knew: I needed to pay attention to the people walking past. I needed to make eye contact and let people know that we mattered to each other.”

Instead of staring straight ahead at the waterfront, Nixon started smiling at people and striking up conversations. And pretty soon, more than a few early risers began joining him on the bench, sometimes unburdening themselves, asking him for advice about relationships, careers and personal problems.