Your own blessings
When I was a kid, I used to wish I was Bewitch. Not so that I could have things, although I’m sure I would have made a couple of wishes and wiggled my nose with regards to the local candy store 😉 My love for pixie stix was awfully strong back then. No, I use to sit in the car as a passenger and see someone, maybe a Mother with lots of kids driving an old, beat up car. I use to wish I could twitch my nose and she would suddenly be driving some big fancy thing. I imagined that I would see the startled look on her face as she realized her hands gripped an unknown steering wheel…and smiled at the thought she would have no idea where or from whom it had come.
I went to school with a girl (Deborah) who was different. She was slow and the kids made fun of her. I would twitch my nose when we rode the bus and she would become Cinderella with beautiful long hair and a lovely new dress. She would be charming and smarter than anyone…and everyone would be so confused.
I also went to school with a boy (Richard) who’s parent’s were so poor he didn’t have a decent pair shoes. I remembered that my own Father went to school without shoes. I tried so long and hard… twitching my nose, but I just couldn’t make them new for him. I asked the teacher to help me. I don’t know how it happened. All I know is that he had a new pair of black high top sneakers one day…and I thought it was magic.
I still drive around and see things…that I wish I could change by twitching my nose. I’m smiling now at the thought. I’m telling you this because if you ever have a chance to help someone…and can…it will do you more good than you know.
Last night I came home after working and then visiting with my Family. I was almost home and as I turned one of the last corners towards my block, I saw a small figure sitting on the corner. At first glance it appeared to be a small boy, about 12. I passed and kept on driving because it was late at night and I was so tired. But that brain of mine just could let it go…and I turned my jeep around. I stopped and rolled down the window asking “are you ok?” The figure looked up and said they were waiting for a ride. I asked “How long have you been waiting?”…no reply. I’m not as trusting of people as I used to be but I just had this feeling …”Get in”.
The small figure climbed into the jeep and it was then that I realized it was a girl. I asked her “what are you doing out here so late”? She said she was driving with someone who was so reckless that she got out of the car. I told her I thought she was a kid sitting there and she politely asked me if I would have stopped had I known she was a 24 year old woman, a single mother of 2. I told her it wouldn’t have made any difference and she smiled a pixie grin. We drove for a long while and she told me about her life. That’s something between just her and me but it was a life that someone as young as she was, should never have had to live through. I took her farther than she asked because I could see the kind of neighborhood we were heading to. She was so very small, I just couldn’t let her go. We finally got as far as she would let me take her, then as she grabbed the handle to get out…she turned to me and said “God Bless You Ma’am”…. Can you imagine…all that I have and all that she didn’t…and she wished me a blessing!
My husband (who never yells) yelled at me for 10 minutes when I got home…about safety and strangers and all the stuff I actually know… Sometimes, things just happen. Sometimes you just feel Bewitched. Be grateful people. Be grateful for everything…because there are so many other’s worse off. Do good things…but be safe. Make a difference. It will open your eyes to your own blessings…large and small.
Anuvue Studio 
February 29, 2008 at 4:55 am
That was a very kind thing to do. Please don’t ever do that again. Give them twenty bucks and tell them you will call them a cab.
February 29, 2008 at 11:34 pm
Julie, this little gal was tinier than Nicole. She was huddled into a little ball, freezing in her thin jacket. She was from a small town in Minnesota and knew no kindness either there nor in California. I just had a feeling… I needed to be the one…and in this case, in this one case, I was right. I will be careful Sis.
February 29, 2008 at 11:49 pm
When she tells the story to her friends…they will decide that you were an angel. (maybe you are) M. is right! just thinking of it scares the bageebaz out of me! Love Ya!
March 1, 2008 at 1:04 am
The sadness in that statement is that she had no friends…and no family.
I told her the story of a “real angel” on earth…one that raised 3 kids on her own and managed to turn them all into good people, despite what little she had… 😉
March 2, 2008 at 6:32 pm
This is such a great story. You have a huge heart, Heather. It brings up the question – what would we be willing to do in this day and age as an act of kindness? I can relate to your husband’s trepidations, and your need to pick the girl up. I struggle with this, too, when I see people in need on the streets these days.
These are the hard questions. But I still read all the time about people who do still care, and stop to help people out. Sometimes we just have to follow our guts and take the risk. Bravo.
It reminds me of a girl outside my apartment a few years ago. Her boyfriend was pushing her around, getting abusive with her. I was getting out of my car to walk into my apartment. I could have just kept going. But I stopped to ask if she was okay.
She did not answer – but he did. He said, “She’s fine. Mind your own business.” I replied, “I didn’t ask you. I asked her.” Then I repeated the question to her. She told me she would be fine. I walked on.
Looking back, it was risky to intervene. But I think it deescalated the situation enough that, for that moment, she might have been okay. You just reminded me of that moment, when I stopped to help. Thank you.
March 3, 2008 at 3:08 am
My Dear Heather, You are an extremely rare person. Your heart is so overflowing with goodness. I’m sure by your act of kindness, you changed that girl’s life, and she will tell that tale many times. In some way, it will change things for the better. Be carefull, little Sister, and carry on..
March 3, 2008 at 3:35 am
QM, Bravo to you my good woman! It took more courage to do what you did. I love that “I didn’t ask you”. I can just see it. And I believe you did a great deal in stopping it because he was then aware he was being watched.
Cindy, I’m always careful but I trust my gut like QM said.