Giants Who Walk Among Us

I find it amazing how the subjects for my articles come to me. Sometimes it’s synchronicity that happens, or it’s an idea that just comes into my mind. And sometimes my guides just land it in my lap. Before I wrote this article, I noticed that a woman was making a recurring donation to the fund raiser that I had set up for the food bank. At first, I didn’t recognize her name because I knew her by her nickname and not her formal name. I wanted to thank this woman personally, and so I googled her formal name and found another generous woman with a big generous heart by the same name, but who lived in California. This woman posted a story on social media that was so touching that I had to share it with everyone:

I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes I honked again. Since this was going to be my last ride of my shift I thought about just driving away, but instead I put the car in park and walked up to the door and knocked. ‘Just a minute’, answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.
After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90’s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940’s movie.
By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.
There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.
‘Would you carry my bag out to the car?’ she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.
She took my arm, and we walked slowly toward the curb.
She kept thanking me for my kindness. ‘It’s nothing’, I told her. ‘I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated.’
‘Oh, you’re such a good boy,’ she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, ‘Could you drive
through downtown?’
‘It’s not the shortest way,’ I answered quickly.
‘Oh, I don’t mind,’ she said. ‘I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice.’
I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. ‘I don’t have any family left,’ she continued in a soft voice. ‘The doctor says I don’t have very long.’ I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.
‘What route would you like me to take?’ I asked.
For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.
We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.
Sometimes she’d ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, ‘I’m tired. Let’s go now’.
We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.
Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move.
They must have been expecting her.
I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.
‘How much do I owe you?’ She asked, reaching into her purse.
‘Nothing,’ I said.
‘You have to make a living,’ she answered.
‘There are other passengers,’ I responded.
Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.
‘You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’
I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.
I didn’t pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?
On a quick review, I don’t think that I have done anything more important in my life.
We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.
But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.
PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID ~BUT~ THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.
At the bottom of this great story was a request to forward this – I deleted that request because if you have read to this point, you won’t have to be asked to pass it along you just will…
Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance……….

This story made me think of my sister and my nephew who volunteer for hospice and give comfort to those before they transition. It made me think of my son who works not only with athletes as a personal trainer, but with older people dealing with pain and arthritis. In one of my previous articles, I wrote about one of his first clients who was an older woman and was in a car accident in the 1970’s and was confined to a wheelchair. He worked with her in a pool and she very slowly improved. At his wedding reception, she wheeled her chair to the middle of the dance floor, stood up and danced with him in place. She has since passed, but a smile comes to his face when he talks about her. It made me think of my daughter-in-law who works with students with special needs. She had one student who was so disabled that he could only use his eyes with a special computer. But he was still learning until he passed on. It also made me think of the people who worked in the rehab center where my mom was, and how they treated her so kindly until she passed away at the age of 99.

This story also made me think of all of the many good-hearted people who give aid and comfort to those who need help. I’m sure that you are aware of these people with big hearts in your life. So, when you encounter the negative energy of the little people (and I’m not talking about physical size), who are mean, rude, arrogant, feel entitled, or ridicule other people, just smile at them and think of the positive energy of the giants who walk among us, and be grateful for them.