In his book, The 50 Year Dash, author, Bob Greene, wrote –
“The rewards that mean the most of all, you now understand, are not presented by anyone else. They come to you during the moments you are doing something that you know in your heart is absolutely right. It may be something that other people ridicule or don’t comprehend; it may be something that no one else in the world is even aware you are doing. Something you feel fervently about, something that is almost holy in the meaning to you, in the devotion that you bring to it. And that others don’t understand - or will never know you’ve done them – does not matter at all. At 50, you don’t have to announce this or explain it to anyone. You know, which is all that matters. The best reward.”
While
age 50 has become history to me, these words have stayed with me and, out of
the blue, came home to roost about 7:30 a.m. this morning as I was leaving
Milton’s Main Street Market Piggly Wiggly after picking up a few items needed
at home.
Heading to my car, I passed the bench that is not far from the Pig’s front door. A lady, probably a bit older than me, was sitting there in the sun looking at me very intently. I greeted her and she asked if I recognized her. I replied that I thought she looked familiar but couldn’t place her name or how I might be acquainted with her.
She
then told me her first name and where she lived, followed by the question,
“Have you ever delivered Meals on Wheels?” My answer was, “Yes, I have
delivered Meals on Wheels for a number of years but only occasionally when our
church rotation occurred every six or eight weeks.
By then the light in my memory ignited and I recalled her name, and the location of her apartment in the building where she lived. She affirmed my recollection and went on to describe her recent health improvement (she could barely answer the door when I delivered meals over the years) that allowed her to get out and walk some as well as do much more for herself than before. She asked my name and said she had heard that before. She then asked where I lived, what church I belonged to and if it used to host a turkey supper, and other odds and ends. She wanted to know if I knew the time. I looked at my watch and told her. She said she had to get going, got up and walked toward her apartment building.
What a great start to the day. Who would have thought that a routine shopping trip to the Main Street Market would have led to this phenomenal encounter out of the blue?
Or was it out of the blue? Columnist Jenny Anderson says it this way – “This was community. Community is about a series of small choices and everyday actions: how to spend a Saturday, what to do when a neighbor falls ill, how to make time went there is none. Knowing others and being known; investing in somewhere instead of trying to be everywhere. Communities are built, like Legos, one brick at a time. There’s no hack.”
My very positive, heartening interaction this morning was, pure and simple, COMMUNITY. Who knew that an occasional Meals On Wheels delivery over a number of years would engender this encounter? Never, never underestimate the power of your interactions and investment in people and community. “The rewards that mean the most of all come to you during the moments you are doing something that you know in your heart is absolutely right. You don’t have to announce this or explain it to anyone, you know, which is all that matters. The best reward.
After all WE ARE MILTON!
