I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes I walked to the door and knocked.“Just a minute”, answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.
After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90′s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940′s movie.
By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.“Would you carry my bag out to the car?” she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, and then returned to assist the woman.
She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness. “It’s nothing”, I told her.. “I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated.”
“Oh, you’re such a good boy”, she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, “Could you drive through downtown?” “It’s not the shortest way,” I answered quickly.“Oh, I don’t mind,” she said. “I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice”.
I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. “I don’t have any family left,” she continued in a soft voice.“The doctor says I don’t have very long.” I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.
“What route would you like me to take?” I asked. For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. Sometimes she’d ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner & would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, “I’m tired. Let’s go now”. We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her. I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.
“How much do I owe you?” she asked, reaching into her purse.“Nothing,” I said. “You have to make a living,” she answered.“There are other passengers,” I responded.
Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. “You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,” she said. “Thank you.” I squeezed her hand and then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.
I didn’t pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run or had honked once, then driven away?
On a quick review, I don’t think that I have done anything more important in my life. We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.
PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID OR WHAT YOU SAID ~BUT~THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.
It is a great reminder that often it is the random acts of kindness that most benefit all of us. Thank you, my friend…
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CAREGIFTED is an amazing story. Heather McHugh, poet/author of eight volumes of poetry, a book of essays and other published writings is the Milliman Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at the University of Washington. In 2009 she received an MacArthus Fellows Program award – an unrestricted $500,000 five-year fellowship given to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits. There are absolutely no strings attached, and Heather has used her money to found CAREGIFTED. CAREGIFTED helps “enabling angels” – the weariest of caregivers: ones who have been at it for more than a decade, and who have had to give up their own professions, ambitions, income, wishes and needs for the duration, and for the sake of others. Over a 2-year pilot program, the organization hopes to provide week-long all-expense-paid fully – concierged getaways (transportation, lodging, food etc) for 24 exhausted people unlikely ever to be able otherwise to take such a break.
