This is from Saturday 31 and June 1, on my old “Small Miracles” desk calendar:
Lillian was an energetic young woman who loved driving long distances, did not tire easily, and relished any opportunity to do a good deed.
She once drove two young servicemen to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, from her hometown of New Castle, Pennsylvania. After she dropped the man on base, she started back home.
At a diner where she stopped for coffee, Lillian met a stranded young serviceman who needed to get to Akron, Ohio. His wife was about to deliver their first child. Lillian drove him there. The grateful young soldier thanked her, and Lillian headed for home in New Castle.
But even the tireless Lillian had finally become weary. She decided to go to her sister’s home and sleep there.
Dorothy, her sister, lived in a trailer park in Kent, about ten miles from Akron. Lillian knew she was welcome at her sister’s home anytime.
But when she pounded at the door, no one answered.
She went around to the bedroom window and hammered on it loudly. No one stirred at all. But she managed to awaken the neighbor.
It was then that she smelled gas.
The neighbor, who also smelled gas, pried the trailer door open with a tire iron. Heavy gas fumes engulfed them. Lillian found her sister’s family inside. She and the neighbor pulled them out into the brisk fresh air. Thankfully, they all survived.
Decades later, Lillian still feels touched by grace.
“If I hadn’t picked up the serviceman in Oklahoma and driven him all the way to Akron, my family might very well have died that night. Sometimes, when you’re performing an act of kindness, the person who ends up benefiting the most is yourself!”
My commentary:
It is a mark of a generous and kind person that she would say that in saving her family, she herself benefited.
Today I met a neighbor who happened to be all packed up and ready to move. It was purely providential (not by chance). Catherine and I were walking around her building – Catherine was given shoes last Sunday and now we enjoy walking outside often when the weather allows – and this woman’s dog barked at us from a downstairs porch. The woman, who I will call Maribel, came out and said “How are you doing today?” as we were walking away. Catherine was holding my finger and I was continuing to walk with her so she wouldn’t be scared of the dog. When Maribel started talking to us, however, we stopped, and soon Catherine started walking back to the porch railing to see the dog better. Maribel told us about her animals and her stay in our apartment complex and when she said she has fish in a big aquarium, I asked if we could come inside and see. Maribel was kind enough to invite us in, where we not only saw fish – some bigger than Catherine’s hand and some approaching the width of her head – but we also saw Maribel’s little mouse! Maribel said the mouse was going to be fed to a snake, and she wanted to save it so she kept it as a pet. I asked her if she could put it in its exercise ball so we could see it and she obliged. Maribel is very relaxed and she was happy to talk to us and let us stay for a while. Catherine picked up the exercise ball a few times exclaiming “ball!” and the mouse got plenty of exercise exploring the apartment. Maribel locked her dog in an empty bedroom while the mouse was out. I was amused to see her cat get friendly with the mouse in the ball while it was rolling around, and glad that the cat wasn’t one who would try to attack the mouse. Perhaps some of that is due to Maribel’s laid-back attitude.
I am very glad that we met her, even if we will never see her again. I was able to give her some holy pictures, as she had none, and small Catholic books for her to take with her. It is very encouraging when someone says she is a reader. Maribel came with us to our apartment for a band-aid and admired our large framed picture of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in the living room, so later I found a much smaller one (I can’t get the large picture out of its frame) and copied it for her. I love it when God works through me! Alleluia. St. Joseph, pray for us. Our Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for us. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us.
That was a nice story :) …….. both of them!