Saturday, December 3, 2011

Trying to repay a debt.

Twenty-five years ago this month I incurred a debt. It is for twenty dollars. It was the result of an act of generosity from a complete stranger. Let me share the story and hope that it helps in some small way to repay this kindness. Once before I told the story in a round about manner in the book A Tree for America now, I want to just tell the story as it happened in December of 1986.

Unable to find a job in Denver my wife at the time and I decided to accept the offer her sister and brother-in-law had extended to us. They would help us move to the Seattle area since the economy there was growing. We made the arrangements to store what we couldn't fit into the car we had at the time, a 1977 Malibu. With the help of a friend we replaced a faulty starter before packing the car with my wife two daughters, two cats and a full grown Alaskan Malamute. All went well until the car died alongside the Interstate just west of Baker Oregon. There was a storm coming in and it was very cold. A Department of Highways snow plow stopped to check on us. Not being really mechanically inclined I had NO idea what was wrong, and the cash was getting very low. Above my protestations he radioed in a asked for a tow truck. There wasn't any getting around it the car had to be towed. The truck arrived and hooked onto us then took us to a little town just south of the highway where the driver had a shop. Putting the car on the lift he found that the starter had come loose and within a few minutes he had us ready to go. My mouth went dry when I asked him how much we owed him. I almost passed out with relief when he told me, twenty bucks. I thanked him and explained that we were on our way to Seattle looking for work. That was when he told me to pay him after I got a job. Later on when my wife and her sister went back to Denver to get the rest of our belongings she was supposed to stop and pay him. She didn't and I have always felt bad about it. I have been by there a million times but always in a semi so I couldn't just go looking for this guy to pay him. I hope in some small way this will help repay that kindness.

4 comments:

  1. Edd, your story brings back a story too. I was nineteen and going through a very bad time. I was broke and when the principal of the school I went to, handed me a $100.00 bill, I shook my head and said no, because I would never be able to pay him back. He insisted that I take it. He told me the way I could pay him back was to pay it forward someday when I was able too, to someone who needed help. I have never forgotten his kindness. I know I have paid forward a whole lot more to those who needed it for the last 28 years and I will continue. I am sure that you have payed it forward to many people who have crossed your path. I think if that guy read your blog he would appreciate it a lot.

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  2. Thanks for that Tory. I hope others will share a similar story from their lives. It will helps spotlight all of the little things that happen to make the world a better place.

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  3. When my oldest son was just a few months old, the holidays rolled around and my husband and I didn't have two dimes to rub together. A friend had bought us a tree that we had decorated with ornaments I had inherited from my family and we had plans after Christmas to visit family when we got paid where we knew our son would be spoiled, but after paying bills, we had absolutely nothing to buy him a single gift with. Now he asn't going to know one day from the next only being eight months old, but WE knew and the thought of it was terribly disheartening. Two days before Christmas, I received a call from a stranger saying that she and her husband knew of our needs (not just for presents under the tree, but for cloth diapers, a diaper pail, money for gas to get to our family and a couple of new tires for our car). She said only that she had spoken to the minister of our church and she also wanted to know our son's clothing size as well as mine and my husband's. Reluctantly I gave her the information she asked for and agreed on a time for her to stop by the house. On Christmas Eve she delivered a diaper pail full of new cloth diaper, two new blanket sleeper and a new toy for our son. There was also a sweater wrapped up for me and for my husband and a stocking that contained enough gas money to get home for the holidays and a gift certificate for two new tires fir the car. A little later that night another bentleman delivered (as a complete surprise) a basket filled with a small turkey and all that was needed to make dressing, mashed potatoes, two vegetables, gravy and cranberry sauce. We were moved and more than grateful for the kindness that was shown tonus that Christmas. This year we have our oldest son, now 20, still li ing with us, and our oldest daughter graduating from high school, and I just underwent major surgery in October. Next year we plan to pay this forward by ourselves adopting a young family and pro iding them with a Christmas to remember. We never found out who provided ours. They only gave their first names. But what they did for us forever restored our faith in others and in ourselves. It kept us out of the depths of depression at a pivotal point in our young lives.

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  4. Anita, thanks that is a great story to remember at Christmas.

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