The first thought that popped in my mind was when I was about 10, riding with my Dad one winter. He was a grade school basketball coach and would drive the kids home after practice when there were no buses. We had dropped off the last player and were headed home when our car died. Someone soon stopped to help--and much to our delight, it was a (lesser known) Green Bay Packer named Steve Wright. Dad and I were HUGE fans of the Packers, so this was extra sweet, but the thought that anyone stopped on a cold, dark winter night filled us with gratitude.
I love this post for so many reasons. My post yesterday was about yet another helper, nature/God/universe. And in the next few weeks I will be discussing yet another way others help us... by sharing our tears. We are never alone in our struggles. 💟
I also loved your post on Finding Joe. I've been wanting to watch that movie, heard from another person about it as well. Thanks for reminding me. Some evening soon we'll settle in to watch it over the holidays. 💟
While teaching in Sri Lanka I bought a fire engine red , 1991; Indian Army Jeep from a colleague. No shocks, no muffler and the stories it could tell if it only had a voice. I called it “The Beast” and it was forever just stopping in the middle of Colombo’s chaotic streets and at first I was terrified, often at night and miles from home. But soon I learned that a crowd of chattering Sri Lankan men, shirtless, longhi’s, beetle stained teeth and flip flops would spring into action, pushing The Beast into a space somewhere and flag down a tuktuk to take me home. I became so accustomed to this, that I would just wave my hands for help, and it arrived. I also became very good friends with my mechanic and he was always able to fine the red Beast and get it running again.
I owned "the beast's" ugly cousin, a desiccated pea-green Nash Rambler whose best attribute was that it was easy to push out of the middle of the street when it got tired, which it did often. I met a lot of helpers through that car ... none of them in exotic foreign places however.
Anyway, my unlikely helper, unknown to me at the time, was a middle-aged volunteer with our local Women's Club. The club managed the paperwork for the Junior Miss beauty contest held in conjunction with a small town carnival. So, how did she help me? She saw my potential, even when the City Councilwoman's daughter was bound to win the contest. She found a way to help me when I was only a runner up. She found some compensation when the city Treasurer absconded the prize money. In short, the funds she created gave me my first thought of extending my education beyond my high school graduation. Decades later, my sister sorted her mother-in-laws business records after her passing and found notes on my original application. She also found my press clippings from my Congressional campaign and work for the President in Washington DC. I appreciate her confidence in me so many years ago. Neither of us ever suspected we would one day be related through marriage. Today I wear one of her vintage lapel pins and recall her kindness.
The first thought that popped in my mind was when I was about 10, riding with my Dad one winter. He was a grade school basketball coach and would drive the kids home after practice when there were no buses. We had dropped off the last player and were headed home when our car died. Someone soon stopped to help--and much to our delight, it was a (lesser known) Green Bay Packer named Steve Wright. Dad and I were HUGE fans of the Packers, so this was extra sweet, but the thought that anyone stopped on a cold, dark winter night filled us with gratitude.
I love this post for so many reasons. My post yesterday was about yet another helper, nature/God/universe. And in the next few weeks I will be discussing yet another way others help us... by sharing our tears. We are never alone in our struggles. 💟
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing.
I also loved your post on Finding Joe. I've been wanting to watch that movie, heard from another person about it as well. Thanks for reminding me. Some evening soon we'll settle in to watch it over the holidays. 💟
While teaching in Sri Lanka I bought a fire engine red , 1991; Indian Army Jeep from a colleague. No shocks, no muffler and the stories it could tell if it only had a voice. I called it “The Beast” and it was forever just stopping in the middle of Colombo’s chaotic streets and at first I was terrified, often at night and miles from home. But soon I learned that a crowd of chattering Sri Lankan men, shirtless, longhi’s, beetle stained teeth and flip flops would spring into action, pushing The Beast into a space somewhere and flag down a tuktuk to take me home. I became so accustomed to this, that I would just wave my hands for help, and it arrived. I also became very good friends with my mechanic and he was always able to fine the red Beast and get it running again.
I owned "the beast's" ugly cousin, a desiccated pea-green Nash Rambler whose best attribute was that it was easy to push out of the middle of the street when it got tired, which it did often. I met a lot of helpers through that car ... none of them in exotic foreign places however.
Anyway, my unlikely helper, unknown to me at the time, was a middle-aged volunteer with our local Women's Club. The club managed the paperwork for the Junior Miss beauty contest held in conjunction with a small town carnival. So, how did she help me? She saw my potential, even when the City Councilwoman's daughter was bound to win the contest. She found a way to help me when I was only a runner up. She found some compensation when the city Treasurer absconded the prize money. In short, the funds she created gave me my first thought of extending my education beyond my high school graduation. Decades later, my sister sorted her mother-in-laws business records after her passing and found notes on my original application. She also found my press clippings from my Congressional campaign and work for the President in Washington DC. I appreciate her confidence in me so many years ago. Neither of us ever suspected we would one day be related through marriage. Today I wear one of her vintage lapel pins and recall her kindness.
Thanks for sharing your story ... what a great helper and perfect example about the helpers all around us ... and how we can be helpers to others.
I needed this today! Thanks!