The Old Man

Checking the weather this morning, I decided that I wouldn’t walk the trail I liked to walk every day.  Not only that, but I needed to spend more time getting rid of things that no longer served me. But after recycling my Daytimers, I felt a nudge that said, “Go walk the trail.” So I did.

When I finished my walk, I saw that I had left my headlights on.  This isn’t the first time it happened. When I lived in Durango, I frequently left the lights on, and every time it drained the battery.  I had to call someone to recharge it. One guy said I needed to drive at least thirty minutes so I drove to and from the hospital in Durango. 

Here, I drove from the trail to 7^th street and turned left at the Bypass road. Because I’d been this way before, I knew how long it took to get somewhere.

(credit:  Stock images)

While on that road I saw a guy with his thumb out. I stopped and asked him where he was going. He said, “To the hospital.”  I told him I could take him there.

I reached over and unlocked the passenger’s door of my 2004 Honda Civic DX.  He got in and “whew” the odor!  He was at least 90 years elder.  His clothes were dirty and they stank.  He pointed to a trailer park on the left side of the highway and said, “That’s where I live.”

I had to continue asking him where he wanted to go because he didn’t recall telling me.

So I continued driving on the Bypass and just as we approached a filling station, he said stop there.  I asked him, “Why?”  

He said, “This is good.”   He pointed to something on the right side of the car.  I don’t know whether it was the bank or a filling station where he wanted to go.

I said, “I thought you wanted to go to the hospital.”

He repeated “This is good” and he opened his door.

As I was driving home, I started thinking that maybe this was the reason I was nudged to walk the trail this morning.

When I got out of the car in my garage, I noticed that my purse was on the passenger’s side, on the floor.  The thought occurred to me that he could have taken it.  I am grateful that he did not.

What do you think?

Have you had such an experience?  If so, please share it in your comment.

Till next time,

Please be kind to everyone you meet, for we all have our hidden sorrows.                                                            ~Tzaddi aka Dr. Pam Young, PhD