He almost didn't see the old lady, stranded on the
side of the road. But even in the dim light of day, he could see 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? He didn't look safe; he looked poor and hungry. He
could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He
knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear can put in you. He
said, "I'm here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where
it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson." Well,
all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough.
Bryan 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 the 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. Bryan
just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed
him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already
imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not
stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. 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 they needed, and Bryan 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 unfamiliar to her. The
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 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 Bryan. After
the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. The
waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but
the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time
the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin. There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: "You don't owe me anything.
I have been there too.
Somebody once helped me out,
the way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you."
Under the napkin were four more $100 bills. Well,
there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve,
but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got
home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money
and what the lady had written. How could the lady 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 soft and
low, "Everything's gonna be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson." ************** There is an old saying "What goes around comes around.." Today,
I sent you this story (via a blog entry), and I'm asking you to pass it
on (in any mode which you are comfortable with)... Let this light
shine. Don't delete it. Please pass this on to a friend. "Good friends are like stars....You don't always see them, but you know they are always there."
ps: got this from someone's blog..
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