WHAT GOES AROUND…
He was driving home one
evening, on a two-lane country road. In
this small mid-western community, work was almost as slow as his beat-up
Pontiac. But he never quit looking. Ever since the factory closed, he’d been
unemployed, and with winter raging on, the chill had finally hit home.
It was a lonely road. Not very many people had a reason to be on it,
unless they were leaving. Most of his
friends had already left. They had
families to feed and dreams to fulfill. But
he stayed on. After all, this was where
he buried his mother and father. He was
born here and knew the country.
He could go down this road
blind, and tell you what was on either side, and with his headlights not
working, that came in handy. It was
starting to get dark and light snow flurries were coming down. He’d better get a move on.
You know, he almost didn’t
see the old lady, stranded on the side of the road. But even in the dim twilight, he could see that
she needed help. So he pulled up in
front of her Mercedes and got out. His
Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her.
Even with the smile on his
face, she was worried. No one had
stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? Actually, he didn’t look safe; he looked poor
and hungry. He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the
cold, and he knew how she felt. It was
that chill that only fear can put in you. He said, “I’m here to help you. Why don’t you wait in the car where it’s warm.
By the way, my name is Joe.”
Well, all she had was a
flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Joe crawled under the car looking for a place
to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt. As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she
rolled down her window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and
was only just passing through. She
couldn’t thank him enough for coming to her aid. Joe just smiled as he closed her trunk.
She asked him how much she
owed him. Any amount would have been
alright with her. She had already
imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. Joe never thought twice about the money. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God
knows there were plenty who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it
never occurred to him to act any other way. He told her that if she really wanted to pay him
back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person
the assistance that they needed, and Joe added “…and think of me”.
He waited until she started
her car and drove off. It had been a
cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing
into the twilight. A few miles down the road
the lady saw a small cafe. She went in
to grab a bite to eat and take the chill off before she made the last leg of
her trip home. It was a dingy looking
restaurant. Outside were two old gas
pumps. The whole scene was quite poor
and unfamiliar.
Her waitress came over and
brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on
her feet for the whole day couldn’t erase. The lady noticed that the waitress was nearly
eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her
attitude. The old lady wondered how
someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Joe.
After the lady finished her
meal, and the waitress went to get her change from a hundred-dollar bill, the
lady slipped right out the door. She was
gone by the time the waitress came back. She wondered where the lady could be, then she
noticed something written on a napkin. There were tears in her eyes when she read
what the lady wrote. It said, “You don’t
owe me a thing, I’ve been there too. Someone once helped me out, the way I’m
helping you. If you really want to pay
me back, here’s what you do. Don’t let
the chain of love end with you.”
Well, there were tables to
clear, sugar bowls to fill, and more people to serve, but the waitress made it
through another day. When she got home that
night and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady
had written. How could she have known
how much she and her husband needed it? With
the baby due next month, it was going to be hard. She knew how worried her husband was, and as
he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered tenderly
and quietly, “Everything’s gonna be alright…I love you Joe.”
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