‘I was thirsty…’
I was out shopping today for a small freezer for a client who needs it and as I came out of HH Gregg, an older woman approached me. She was decently groomed, but she looked exhausted and overheated.
“Can you please help an old woman?” she asked.
“What do you need?”
“A ride. I been out here all morning and nobody will help.”
I know the buses ride by the shopping center where we were, but she looked desperate. She wanted to go to a grocery store a couple miles away where she said she was going to meet a friend and then catch a bus home. She didn’t have enough for both bus rides and just wanted a ride to the grocery store.
I wanted to say no, but I couldn’t. I thought about when Mike needed help and how many people he helped, and I agreed to give her a ride.
She struggled for a moment to buckle the seat belt and then settled back.
“People been saying no to me all morning,” she said.
She was missing her top teeth and it made her difficult to understand.
“I’m just a sick old woman. I got diabetes and heart trouble. Why you think people been saying no to me all morning?”
“People don’t trust each other,” I said.
“No,I s’pose not.” She wiped her brow.
I reached under my seat, pulled out my water bottle and offered it to her.
“I got hepatitis C,” she said.
“That’s OK. You need water.”
She drank the whole thing.
Whether she could have taken a bus, whether she should even have been out in the heat, whatever her story, she was thirsty. She drank a half liter of water without even coming up for air.
It didn’t matter whether she was drunk or sober, high or straight, she need a ride and a drink of water.
I had been feeling down because a grant I had applied for had been turned down. It felt petty as I listened to her.
“I’m ready for the good Lord to take me whenever he’s ready,” she said. “I’m pretty tired. I wouldn’t kill myself, but I’m ready for the good Lord to take me.”
She kicked off her shoes and rubbed her feet, replacing them as we pulled up to the grocery store.
“Remember, Jesus said ‘I was thirsty and you gave me to drink,’” she said. “God bless you for helping an old woman.”
Second annual Eat at Mike’s
Reserve now
Life o' Mike sponsors its second annual Eat at Mike's, an evening of good food prepared by local chefs, at Tingles Cafe in downtown Asheville. The event also features silent and live auctions with items from Highlands Brewing, artist Angela C. Alexander and more.
Tickets to the dinner are $25; $20 for children 3-12 and free for children under 3.
To reserve, e-mail lifeomike@gmail.com. For more information, call 828-243-6712.
Patient Pals & Family Friends
Life o' Mike has a new peer support program for people newly diagnosed with chronic or serious illness or with a new disability and their caregivers.
Patient Pals are people who have experience with various illnesses and disabilities, who can help someone newly diagnosed or with a new disability work through the fear, frustration, confusion and grief often experienced in the first few months.
Family Friends are there to help caregivers and other family members grow into their new role.
People with new illness or disability fare better when they have a role model -- someone who can help them negotiate their new path in life.
We need volunteers, who are asked to donate a minimum of one hour a week. Training is free and includes information on active listening, ways to help and when to know more help is needed.
And of course, we need funding.
To learn more, call Leslie Boyd at 828-243-6712 or e-mail lifeomike@gmail.com.
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