One day a man saw a 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 Mercedes 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. I t was that chill 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 happ ened 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 .
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 an ything. 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 a round comes around." Today, I
sent you this story, and I'm asking you to pass it on .. Let this light
shine.
Good friends are like stars....You don't always see them, but you
know they are always there.