When life gets tough and things becomes unbearable, an outstretched hand is worth its weight in gold. Unfortunately, though, we humans have the tendency to be so busy with our own lives that we don’t notice the world around us. So instead we walk on, unconcerned about other people’s situations and only with our own.
Single mother Tawny Nelson recently experienced a situation like this. Her car broke down in a parking lot and she and her four daughters were stranded in the pouring rain. Although about 20 people walked past Tawny over the course of two hours, no one stopped to help her—and her phone battery also died, as if things weren’t bad enough.
Night grew dark, Tawny’s children screamed and cried, and she felt the hope seep out of her—when suddenly, there was a knock on the window.
News anchor Frank Somerville shared the story on his Facebook page. He received it from Tawny, and he thought it was so powerful that he decided to post it. Here’s it is:
“I am the single mother of four absolutely beautiful little girls.
The are 9, 5, 2, and 6 weeks.
And things have been particularly rough since my ex left.
My truck had a flat I constantly had to air up.
The driver side window motor died.
And I needed a new alternator belt.
The truck was a mess.
And we didn’t drive anywhere unless we had to.
Well the other day we desperately need to go to the store.
So we loaded up and drove to the Winn Dixie about 9 blocks away.
When we got out of the store it was far after dark.
And POURING rain.
I loaded my kids and groceries into the truck.
Tried to crank it…… Nothing.
No click.
Nothing.
One of my girls as accidentally left a light on.
My battery was dead.
My phone was also disconnected.
I have no family to speak of and was on my own.
I got out and opened my hood to be sure my battery hadn’t come loose.
Nope.
I must have asked more than twenty people in the course of two hours for a jump.
They all ignored me.
Not even a no.
Just acted like I didn’t exist.
My 5-year-old was melting down.
My newborn SCREAMING, my two year old crying she was hungry, and my oldest desperately trying to help.
I was bawling and felt like the worst mom ever.
Then I got a knock on the passenger window.
An older gentleman (he was 74) with a cane and a bad limp was on the other side of that knock.
I opened the door.
He handed me a plate of chicken strips and biscuits from the deli and bottles of water.
‘Feed those babies and yourself, young lady.
I have a tow truck on the way and my wife will be here shortly to take y’all home.’
Sure enough, she arrived followed by the tow truck.
Us and our truck were taken home.
The next morning, the gentleman returned to my house with a mechanic who replaced my battery and alternator and fixed my window.
The elderly gentleman then left and did not return.
When I asked what I owed the mechanic and if I could make payments, he smiled telling me the older man had paid for all of it.
He said that the only payment the older man wanted was for me to never give up and keep being an amazing mom.
I’ve never cried so hard in my life.
Things had been absolutely awful.
More so than I care to explain.
And without knowing us or our situation, this kind man helped us in ways he will never know.
What he did revived my faith when I was falling apart.
But he wouldn’t even take a hug.
I’ll never be able to thank him.
But I certainly hope one day I can do what he did for me for someone else.”
Image source: Tawny Nelson (Facebook)
I got quite tearful reading this. This story really shows how much a small gesture can mean to another person. Feel free to share this with your friends as a reminder that we must help each other.
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