Opportunity Knocks (X3)

We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another. ~Luciano de Crescenzo


Her Dogness and I were headed for the park when we saw the person walking up the road carrying a couple of market bags from our local grocery chain. We live on a dead end road that is about three miles or so long. It is probably about three and a half to four miles from the end of the road to the bus stop so not a lot of people use it and there isn't much foot traffic down here. There are a few people who hike up to the bus stop now and again but I had not seen this person before. I think what got my attention was that I couldn't tell if it was male or female. Tall and square shouldered, the person had a waist length ponytail and a gimmie cap pulled down over the top of it. Even a glance in my rear view mirror offered no clue but did reveal a walking cane.

It was a muggy day that promised to be hot a sweaty really soon. I wanted to get on with our walk and get back to the house before that happened if possible. We spent about twenty minutes or so in the park and headed home. As we made the hard left and started into the straight away that leads to our house, we saw the same person. This time, her loose hair was dancing wildly in the breeze of a passing truck as she struggled along the side of the road with her loaded bags. With a car just a few feet on my tail, I slowed down but was unable to stop. I got home and cleaned up a little, had a snack, gave Lani water and completed a few other mundane tasks that I can't remember before heading out again to fun some errands. I was almost to the end of the road when I saw her yet again. She had only gotten a few yards farther along from where she had been the last time I'd seen her. A truck close behind me but I stopped anyway.

"Do you need some help?"

"Oh, yes! I'll give you a couple of bucks to take me up the hill. Just get me up the hill and I'll be able to make it the rest of the way."

"Let me go up there and turn around."

The road is a narrow two lane affair with a center stripe but no sidewalks. I had to go about fifty yards to a driveway to turn around. Meantime, she is standing in knee high weeds.

"I can't thank you enough. I didn't think I'd have to do this today. I didn't know how I was going to make it up that hill."

There is a low water crossing just below my house, after which there is a sharp rise in the land which forms a short but steep hill.

"Where are you headed?"

"Just let me out anywhere after the S curve. I can make it the rest of the way."

"I might as well take you on home. I have to turn around somewhere anyway."

"You know where Etta (St.) is?"

"Sure, I used to live just past it."

I took her to her mobile home where there were a couple of cars in the driveway. She explained that her battery was dead and that they hadn't had time to jump start it.

"If you ever have trouble, I hope someone stops to help you."

"They already have."

She tried to give me two bucks but I was backing out of her drive already.

I passed her by twice before I stopped to help. I wonder how many others had passed her as she struggled with those bags. How desperate had she become to walk almost two miles to the bus stop and try to make it home with those heavy bags? I am grateful that I was given that third opportunity to make a difference for someone else.

Soundtrack for this post: Chuck Brodsky's We Are Each Other's Angels (I just found this version and I love it. I hope you will give it a listen.)