When I was writing a weekly column in our diocesan paper called AN ENCOURAGING WORD for fifteen years, I was always on the look-out for ordinary people to affirm rather than for their weaknesses to condemn. I learned very quickly that you always see what you look for in this world - look for the bad and you will find it, look for the good and you will find it too! Yes, there is a lot of meanness, evil and cowardice, but there is also a lot of goodness, courage and heroism.
Today, I want to focus on a old lady who passes my condo on the sidewalk running along Eastern Parkway. I have included four zoom photos of her that I took when I happened to be looking out the window. She might take one of her "trips" every day or even twice a day or more, but I have no way of knowing. I have no idea who she is, where she comes from or where she is going, but I am amazed at her determination to not let her limitations and circumstances hold her back.
I see her out on her motorized cart in all kinds of weather: rain, snow and bitter cold. She my be coming from her home down the street, the nursing home next door or just escaping her home-alone loneliness when her family is at work. She may be going to the Kroger behind my condo to pick up a few things, she may be visiting a friend down the street or she just might want to see what is going on in the neighborhood.
I don't know a thing about her, but she amazes me and inspires me as she whizzes down the sidewalk unescorted by hovering family members or caretakers. Worries about "what might happen" doesn't seem to phase her! Personally, I would probably worry about what I would do if the battery of my cart went dead or what I would do if a car accidently came up on the sidewalk and crushed me or how I would handle it if I were mugged by a thief - worries enough for me to stay home for safety sake. Not her! Her flimsy shoes (3rd photo) don't even seem to phase her! In the second photo below, she appears to be having a cigarette, but I was not sure! She exudes the air of a "woman on a mission" even if she is going nowhere in particular. I find this "one tough cookie" simply amazing!
On one sunny day (March 13th), she was out again on her motorized cart. This time, at first I thought she was throwing out seeds or bread crumbs for the geese and ducks on our pond. Only when she got closer, did I realize she was cleaning the sidewalk of sticks and limbs that had fallen from the trees. I don't know how far down the sidewalk she had worked, but I watched her for almost a half-hour!
Sometime around March 17, shocked, I ran into her in the Kroger parking lot maneuvering her cart through the traffic and parked cars! Now I know where she was going, but I still don't know who she is or where she came from! This time I realized that my eyes had probably not deceived me! I am pretty sure I actually saw smoke coming out of a cigarette she was enjoying as she rushed to finish it!
I am amazed by her drive, determination and courage! Yes, she is one tough cookie! She is an inspiration to me! "Ain't nobody gonna slow her down!"
No comments:
Post a Comment