Submitted by Laurie Bries (Baraboo, WI)
A woman with a dead battery, no one to call to help her, and no money to pay for a mechanic
I work as a receptionist in a doctor’s office. After her son’s visit with the doctor, a mom came back into the office and said her battery was dead in her car. She asked if anyone had jumper cables and would give her a jump. No one in the office had jumper cables. She lived in a town 20 miles away, and no one was there to call who could help her. I knew a young man who worked on cars and I said I would call him to come and help her. She asked how much I thought that would cost. We called him and he said he could come over and it would be $20. She said she did not have any money. I said I would lend it to her. She was a little anxious but grateful.
She wouldn’t get paid until the end of the month and wouldn’t be back in town for a while, but she said she would pay me back. I lent her the money and she got the jump and was on her way. After thinking about it, I found her phone number and called her and got an answering machine. I left her a message saying I didn’t want the money back; It didn’t mean anything to me, and I knew the $20 probably meant a lot to her. I felt it was the right thing to do. About a month later, one day when I went in to work, there was a small wooden angel on my desk and a post-it note saying “you are my angel”, and it was signed with her name. After deciding I did not want to get paid back, and after calling her, it felt like it was really the right thing to do. I felt joy and peace.
