A Simple act of Kindness in an Otherwise Crazy World Becomes a Teaching Moment
The other day my wife, Michele, was running errands with our sons and experienced something that quickly became a teaching moment about life.
She posted this story on her Facebook feed and I put it on mine. It took off.
I'm re-posting it here.....
The man in her story is Elwyn Caldwell. I found him by happenstance when I was going to the post office a few days later and spotted an old man wearing a veterans cap. I noticed a portion of his left ear was missing, a characteristic that fit the description given to me by my sons.
I asked him if a woman with two red-headed young boys gave him a lift the other day. He immediately smiled and confirmed my suspicion that this was the man in the story.
As parents we live in a world where we have to teach our kids to be untrusting of strangers. Simple acts of kindness get lost in translation as we search for balance between being safe and reaching out to help others.
My wife, a former newspaper reporter, always brings a tear to my eye when she writes.
By Michele Rivoli
I had one of those difficult to explain moments today with my sons. We were running into Walmart to pick up a couple last-minute school supplies when I spotted this elderly man walking up John Walsh Boulevard.
You can read the rest here ....
A few years back I lost my father in law to a speeding car, an old man he was in a very similar situation to this old man. How I wish there was someone to have stopped for a few minutes and given him a bit of help....
NWM
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How we teach our children goes a long way to how we act as a society.
Yes, and how we live as example...
A breath of fresh air NWM. Thanks for posting this.
Love conquers all.
My pleasure Brother..
"I realized how lonely this man was"
Loneliness can killed an elderly person and even if it doesn't is by far the most painful part of their life. When my father was dying of cancer he survived about a year and maybe a half before passing away. My mother (who had been his first of four wives) called him and asked him how he was doing. He said he couldn't understand why none of the kids were coming to visit him (I was living in Phoenix or I would have and was lucky enough to spend his last few days with him in his hospice) and that it was lonely sitting around his trailer. So my mom called two of his other ex-wfe's and they started to get together for lunch and planned out who would visit him, on which day, etc. They also made sure is place was kept clean, made sure he was eating and did is laundry and things like that. I'm convinced that what they did added time to his life. Still, despite my mother's urging, none of my sisters could seem to find the time to stop by. Always too busy.
They also bought him a computer and he and I spent hours emailing each other every few minutes whenever the Red Wings were playing on ESPN or one of the networks. It was like taking to him on the phone, except better. It was like being there with him watching together. Near the end he called and asked me to come to see him, that he knew he didn't have long, so my wife and I managed to get tickets, despite it being two weekends until Thanksgiving Day. We all stayed with him so, even when he was a sleep, one of his brothers or his sister or some other family member was there 24/7. I was lucky and spent 3 or 4 hours with him just by myself one evening. We talked about so many things, got some sore spots fixed, made some apologies, laughed about a LOT of things and such stuff. He went into a coma late that night and never came out for the next three days when he died. I wasn't by his bed when he passed away and a couple of my sisters were pissed it me for that, but fuck 'em, I had already said my goodbyes and remember him to this day they way he was. He died just before Thanksgiving and his funeral was the day before the Holiday and my wife and I flew back on Thanksgiving day.
Now my mom is lonely and my same sisters don't seem to be able to find time for her in her life. She's a widow and still working, mostly because she enjoys being around people and says she'd just be lonely if she retired. I have written my sisters emails and argued with them, but except for one of my half sisters (not one of my dad's children) none of them have the time. The one who has the time splits it between my mom and her husband who has cancer and will die within a few weeks. Her I admire! And we are having half argument about if mom is going to move in wit her or come out to CA to live with us. I know she'll end up with my sister, but that doesn't mean we can't fly up there to visit her or have her visit back out here again.
If you know some elderly, family or not, just remember the thing they need the most is having someone there to talk to. To share a cup of coffee with. Or to be brought to your home for dinner. The number one thing they need is someone's time.
Sorry. Sometimes when it's a subject I really care about, my posts tend to run a bit long.
You post is quite fine brother, spoken from the heart, something I can really relate to.
WE can never forget those that gave us life.
The real important point, the kids "Got It" faith presents us with opportunities, this was one to teach and a window in to her children's growth.
I just wish more parents were so aware....
Thank you.
I'm in tears again! What a special story!
Thank you for this. It made me think!
A VERY touching story! What a wonderful act of kindness, and a god lesson for the boys...
Our children learn life's lessons from the way we live our lives and not from what we tell them to do and what rules we set for them.
Great story thanks for sharing
I'm sure tis Veteran will remember this act of kindness for the rest of his days.