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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 car 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
those chills 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.
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, “Everything’s going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.”
There is an old saying “What goes
around comes around.”
Author: Unknown
Moral Stories Inspirational Stories, Motivational Stories
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Love this! When you give without expectation, it all comes back to you in more ways than one. Have a nice weekend!
ReplyDeleteAnd giving quietly makes it even more blessed. Thanks, Karen ... you have a good one, too!
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