Daily Archives: February 28, 2014

My brother-in-law Ron Oliver sent this to me this morning, It really hit home for me.  I will share it with you and post some of the last images from St Croix.  Have a blessed weekend and remember the key sentence of this little story;  Aspire to inspire before you expire!!

 

Sometimes it’s the smallest gesture that leaves the greatest impression.

 

The Cab Ride

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.

 

There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

 

“Would you carry my bag out to the car?” she said. I took the suitcase

to the cab, 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 She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.  Sometimes she’d ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and 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, with a driveway that passed under a portico.

 

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.

 

Aspire to inspire before you expire……….

 

“One day you will be just a memory to  some people…  Do your best to

be a good one.”

 

From:

Bill Denton, AIA

William S. Denton & Associates Architects

430 Burridge Drive

Sevierville, Tennessee 37862

865-548-1982 – Cell

 

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

The last of my St. Croix color……….