One day a man was motoring down a country road
and saw an elderly lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim
light of day, he could see she needed help- tire puncture!. 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 looked 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. Let
me see what needs to be done here!' 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
café. 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 by
leaving a five dollar bill on top of the receipt, adding five one hundred
dollar bills underneath it. The waitress quickly went to get change for her five-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 five crisp $100 notes.
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
difficult to make ends meet....
She knew how worried her husband was, and as he
lay sleeping next to her, she slipped the hundred dollar notes into his
slippers, gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, 'Everything's going
to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.'
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