There is a quiet idea behind the way some character performers at Disney parks approach a child's hug. They don't end it. The child decides when it's over. Whether it's official policy or simply something passed along doesn't matter much. What matters is the heart behind it. You never know how much that child might need that hug.

This week's Roadside Notes entry explores what happens when we stop rushing kindness. The world moves fast, and most of us have learned to keep pace with it. Conversations get shortened. Encouragement turns into quick advice. Presence gets replaced by schedule. But real kindness sometimes asks for something different. It asks us to stay a little longer, listen a little deeper, and let the moment last as long as it needs to.

Don't Be The First To Let Go is a reflection on the kind of grace that rarely makes headlines but is often the thing people remember years later. The person who stayed. The moment that wasn't rushed. The kindness that didn't need a reason to keep going.

📖 Read the full Journal entry: https://faithandgoodcourage.com/2026/05/14/dont-be-the-first/

🎙️ Roadside Notes is a reading series from the Faith and Good Courage Journal, stories of grace, grit, and second chances written and read by Christopher Tuttle, The Route 66 Chaplain.

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