I was over visiting Small Town RN who in turn was blogging about Claudia, who is trying to have everyone try to do one act of random kindness a day.This reminded me of a story of something that happened about 18 years ago long before the movie Play it Forward.
Michael and I were driving to Louisburg, North Carolina for a weekend skydiving trip. Most of the trip was on I-95 and the last hour and a half was on back roads. We had been off I-95 for about 20 minutes when we spotted an elderly black man dressed in a suit walking down the road. (It was very hot out)
We passed him, and then Michael and I both looked at each other, then looked at our packed to the gills Honda Civic. We made the decision to turn around and ask him if he needed a ride. He said he would gladly accept one. I climbed in the back with our stuff and gave him the passenger seat.
It turned out he was going to visit his daughter, who didn't have a phone. He had originally thought the bus went closer to her town. I was Miss Terri, and Michael was Mr. Mike. We had a nice conversation with him for the 20-25 minutes it took to get him to the town he needed-but nothing too memorable.
But as we dropped him off I will never forget what he said to us. "I don't have anything to give you- but I will surely do something nice for somebody else in your name."
11 comments:
No that was a great story, Terri! Makes me really proud to know you and that you and Micheal did something like that.
That's kind of how I got to be really good friends with a gentleman here in this village. I'd known him for many years but one day, on my way to work, I saw him trudging up the hill going out of town - dressed in nice dress slacks and a shirt and tie. Not the usual attire for someone walking up that hill on a hot summer day. So I stopped and asked where he was headed and could he use a ride. He said if I could just drop him off up at the little village about 4 miles from here, he was sure he could find a ride from there into town - about 12 miles away. I took him into town -the one 12 miles away - and in the process learned he'd lost his job a few months earlier, was existing on welfare then -which is not the windfall money many people tend to think it is -and also, in the process had lost his car too. Since then, we've become good friend - joking with each other, just discussing various things and such and he's one of the best friends I have today. A side note here too - I do believe he is "in the closet" but that matters not because that isn't what our relationship is about anyway - he's just a great guy, terrific friend, a lot on the sarcastic side with his humor which matches mine most of the time too and we just enjoy ripping various things at times in conversation! But, had I not stopped and offered him a ride, would our friendship have moved to that level? Probably not.
But as we dropped him off I will never forget what he said to us. "I don't have anything to give you- but I will surely do something nice for somebody else in your name."
--------------------
That gave me chills Theresa, the good kind. It literally changes the air around you when you do something kind and it just keeps moving forward - like a gentle breeze. Kudos to you for reaching out. I'm going to go check out the blogs you mentioned.
That story made me tear up...it was wonderful!
You and Michael are both wonderful people-what a terrific story and I am not surprised in the least that you both did that-you have good hearts.
His line is something to think about for ourselves too.
I love that movie (though, not the ending) and the kind thing you did for this gentleman. In today's day and age, it is hard to do so..you never know who you're picking up. Kudos to you and Michael! *HUGS*
That's a great story. I love the way kindness does tend to go forward.
Such a nice story!! sniff, sniff! Seriously, that was so nice of you two to stop.
What a great story!!
I've had things move me to tears before...this was one of them. What a gift you gave. What a gift you received.
Sandi
I am teary-eyed.
just dropping by to say hi. I love all the photos from NM.
Post a Comment