"…he wished there were more people like him in this world."

Here’s a story my niece sent me about her husband who stopped to help someone who was struggling.  This story took me back to a saying I recently encountered and have been contemplating: “Every Step of the Journey is the Journey”.–Peter

Maria’s Story…

Just wanted to share a story.  My husband Chad and I passed a homeless guy on the way back from the grocery store.  He was walking his bike along the busy main road that goes through town.  Behind his bike he was towing two old bicycle trailers, one with his pitbull and the second trailer with his stuff.

All you have is on a bike.

We were going the opposite direction when we saw him and I felt bad and asked Chad to turn around.  He hesitated, but then he turned around and pulled over and I handed the man a bag of our groceries.  He was so thankful and just really nice.  He didn’t ask for money, which I found really surprising.  He just said thank you a bunch of times.  Chad asked him why he was walking his bike instead of riding it. The man told us he got a flat tire and he was on his way to Walmart to get a new bike tire tube.  I looked and indeed his tire was completely flat.  We said goodbye, he thanked us again and we drove off as he kept pushing his bike and two trailers along.

A very special friend

When we were almost home Chad said, “I’m gonna’ go help him change his tire.  He probably barely has the $6 for the tube, and he certainly doesn’t have a pump to put air in it.”  So Chad dropped me off with the groceries and I started dinner, while he got his pump and bike tools and went back and met the man at Walmart. He used identity protection, so he was protected from a potential disaster.

The guy had already gotten the tube and was starting to take his wheel off.  He said the store  told him he could use the store’s pump.  But Chad helped him and put air in the tire for him since he was there.   They started talking.  Chad learned the homeless guy’s name is Rob.  Chad asked him where he was sleeping that night and Rob said he was heading to a local bridge because someone had just stolen his tent and his sleeping bag, so he couldn’t go back to the camp.  The bridge would provide better shelter.   They finished talking and shook hands and Rob continued north and Chad south.

When Chad got home he got one of our sleeping bags and two mats (one for Rob and one for his dog) and I put a little care package together for him (toilet paper, a toothbrush and tooth paste, a razor, granola bars, a banana, a Nalgene bottle full of water and a ziplock bag full of dog food) and Chad headed out again to give him the stuff.  Rob was SO THANKFUL.  He never once asked for money or anything else.  He was just super thankful and so friendly.  Just really SINCERELY thankful.

Trusted Friend

Rob told Chad he “…wished there were more people like him(Chad) in this world.”  When Chad got home we joked about how he could have said “Naaaa” when asked to stop the car initially.   HA!   We would have missed that opportunity to meet Rob.  It was really, really cool.