What
Goes Around, Comes Around...
One day a man saw an 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, 'Every
thing's going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.'
Today
I sent you this story, and I'm
asking you to pass it on.
Let this light shine.
Don't delete it, don't return it.
Simply, pass this on to a friend.
Good friends are like stars....
You don't always see them,
but you know they are always there.
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