[Users] acts of kindness

[Jeffrey Shockley, Windows Desktop Edition]

I think that's worth a board poast.

Jeffrey Shockley
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On 9/27/2008 9:27 AM, Daniel Sears wrote:
> wanted to post this on the boards, thaught it was nice.
>
> When everyone seemed to be delighting in the game of life, Frank 
> Hempstead carried a feeling inside of him, as if he were benched on 
> the sideline, a mere
> spectator.
> He had a habit of thinking about how he barely graduated from high 
> school and how the people in his life got married, had children, 
> landed good jobs, and
> moved into nice homes. Some of his friends later divorced and 
> remarried and, unlike Frank, they appeared to be maintaining a decent 
> living.
> He dwelled on the fact that he was unmarried, because he felt there 
> was a significant other in his life that was just beyond his grasp. He 
> would have liked
> to settle down and have a family of his own, but he resented the fact 
> that he was a mere cab driver, struggling through life.
> He was unable, or unwilling, to remove that feeling that life was 
> passing him by, and that he was a failure. He was blind to what 
> matters most in life:
> a person's self-worth, because through his self-pity, he failed to 
> recognize that he was a kind person with deep compassion for the needs 
> of others.
> He failed to see his own goodness as he struggled through life, trying 
> to get by from day to day!
> He was also unable to remember the small acts of kindness that he 
> bestowed on others, like the time he bought a homeless man a cup of 
> coffee and allowed
> the man to warm himself in his cab on a bitter cold February day. He 
> rarely thought about the selfless act of picking up groceries for his 
> elderly neighbor
> and listening to her same stories each day.
> "She has no one who will take time out of his day to check on her and 
> listen to what she has to say," Frank thought to himself, as he was 
> driving through
> an intersection. With the exception of Frank, people overlooked his 
> elderly neighbor's existence, and in turn, Frank was oblivious to the 
> importance of
> his kindness and selfless acts.
> On a cold November evening, after Frank paid for his gas, and as he 
> was returning to his cab, he noticed a little old lady, sitting in the 
> front seat.
> "Hey, lady, you need to get in the back," he said to her. "How did you 
> get in the front seat? I keep that front door locked for protection."
> "I promise I won't hurt you," she said to him. "I don't hear too well.
> That's why I got in the front."
> "Where to?" Frank asked her.
> "I'm not sure? I don't get out much," she said.
> "Hey, lady, you're on the meter," he told her.
> "That's fine. Why don't we just drive around," she said.
> "Well, it's your money," he said. "Is there anything in particular you 
> would care to see in our great city? Like maybe a club? Dance joint?"
> he asked, with a little sarcasm in his voice.
> "You dance, Frank?" she asked.
> "How do you know my name?" he asked her.
> "It is on your license on the dash board," she answered.
> "Well, there is nothing wrong with your eyesight, lady," Frank said.
> As he was driving down a busy street and toward a major intersection, 
> she said to him, "Hey, Frank, don't go straight. Turn down the next 
> street before
> the traffic light."
> "Hey, lady, it is nothing but a little ally, there is nothing to see 
> there but a few junkies," he said with a sarcastic voice.
> "Just turn there," she said, pointing to the little ally on their left.
> "Ok, lady, it's your money, but there is no way in hell I'm stopping 
> on that street," he said. As he slowed to turn down the alley, the 
> traffic light at
> the next street's intersection turned green. A cement truck ran the 
> light with two police cars chasing from behind.
> "Did you see that, lady? If we had gone through that green light, that 
> truck would have broad-sided us!" said Frank.
> "You have to have eyes in the back of your head, Frank. Hey, you know 
> what, I changed my mind. You can go straight ahead," she said.
> "Whatever you say, lady," he said. "What's your name, and what do you do?"
> "My name is Julia, and I have lived in this city for many, many 
> years," she told him.
> "Do you have family here?" Frank asked. "Because you said you don't 
> get out much."
> "I don't need to get out much, because there is a nice family living 
> where I live. I have lived there since the late 20s," she said.
> "You mean you moved here in your late 20s?" Frank asked.
> "I was 19 when I got married in 1927, and my husband was a career army 
> man, but we kept the house, and I stayed there to look after things,"
> she said.
> "Is your husband still around?" he asked her.
> "Oh, no, he moved on in 1944, during the war," she said.
> "I am sorry to here that, Julia. It's Julia, right?" he asked.
> "Yes it is Julia," she said.
> "So, who are you living with?" Frank asked.
> "The people who bought my house," she said.
> "Family?" Frank asked.
> "No, I never saw them before in my life until they moved in. They can 
> be awfully noisy at times. They have a young daughter who plays this 
> god-awful music,
> but little Anthony is 4 years old and cute as a button. And little 
> Jessica is 6 years old and so sweet and cute. This is their mother's 
> second marriage,
> and she has a teenage daughter, Brigit, from her first marriage. She 
> is the one who plays that noise, and that's why I needed to get out 
> for awhile. They
> are good people and, for the most part, they don't even know I'm there 
> most of the time," she explained to Frank.
> "So let me get this straight. You sold your house to a family you 
> don't know, and they're allowing you to live in their new house?"
> Frank asked in a bewildered voice. "Where is your family? Can't you 
> stay with them?"
> "My granddaughter lives in the city, but I can't leave my house. I 
> love that place, and I enjoy the company of little Anthony and 
> Jessica. I visit my granddaughter
> now and then. She is so bright and beautiful. The only problem is that 
> she gets so bogged down with her job that she overlooks the important 
> things in
> life, Frank."
> "She sounds like a very independent person," said Frank.
> "She needs another person in her life, Frank, not just all work."
> "Well, I get up at 3 a.m. and drive this cab into the late evening, so 
> I can pay my rent and eat," he said. "I'm sure your granddaughter is 
> working to pay
> her bills and get by."
> "Frank she needs to live life, see the beauty in people and learn 
> life's lessons by giving to others what she knows best," she said, 
> with a soft and sincere
> tone of voice. "She needs someone like you, Frank."
> "I'm a cab driver. She would have no interest in me, especially an 
> ambitious woman like your granddaughter," he said.
> "I know you, Frank. You are a good person, and she needs to learn from 
> what you have to offer."
> "From what I have to offer? What would that be?" Frank asked.
> "What's in your heart, Frank," she said. "You can take me to 498 East 
> Primrose Avenue."
> "What's at that address?" Frank asked her.
> "That's where my granddaughter lives."
> When they arrived at the address, Julia asked Frank to check and see 
> if anyone was home, while she waited in the cab. He went up and rang 
> the doorbell,
> but no one answered. When he went back to the cab, Julia was gone!
> "I can't believe that, she stiffed me!" he said to himself. As he was 
> heading to return his cab to Monroe's Taxi service, he thought to 
> himself, "She doesn't
> seem like the type to cheat a cabbie out of a fare…"
> He also wondered if she was putting him on, because he realized that 
> if she was 19 in 1927, that would make her 96 years old, and she 
> didn't look anywhere
> near that age.
> When he arrived at Monroe's Taxi service, he noticed a stack of 
> letters on the passenger seat where Julia had been sitting, and he 
> took them with him.
> "How was your evening?" asked one of the owners.
> "OK, until this little old lady stiffed me," said Frank.
> "So, granny stiffed you?" said one of the owners, laughing.
> "She left these letters in the cab," said Frank.
> "She's probably a senile old bat," said one of the owners.
> "No, she was far from senile," Frank said.
> Frank took the letters to the White Horse Tavern, a bar that he hadn't 
> been to in a long time. He was curious about Julia, and he wanted to 
> read the letters
> to learn more about her. While at the bar, he opened one of the 
> letters to read it, and the female bartender asked him what he would 
> like to drink.
> "Just any beer you've got on tap," Frank answered.
> "What do you have there?" the bartender asked him, as she poured beer 
> in a glass.
> He explained to her about his experience with Julia and how she left 
> the letters in his cab.
> "Read one of them to me," the bartender said in a curious manner, as 
> she set Frank's beer in front of him.
> Frank noted that the letter he began to read was dated June 5, 1944.
> "Wow, 1944…" said the bartender in a surprised voice.
> Frank began to read the letter:
> "My dearest Julia,
> I am about to be deployed on an important mission. They tell us that 
> it is a turning point in the war with Germany. Hopefully, the war in 
> Europe will soon
> end, and I will be sent back home to you."
> "World War II he's writing about," said Frank.
> "Keep reading, Frank!" said the bartender.
> Frank continued: "At this moment, you and I are angels, each missing a 
> wing, yearning to embrace one another, in order to fly and soar to the 
> heights of
> each other's love."
> "God, why can't I meet a man like that?" asked the bartender. "That's 
> so beautiful…"
> "My gifts to you are not gems and flowers but loving thoughts. I truly 
> understand that, just as diamonds are made under pressure, so, too, 
> have the pressures
> of this war strengthened my love for you. I yearn to hold you in my 
> arms and feel your gentle touch in my heart."
> The bartender was glued to Frank, awestruck by what he was reading to her.
> "Do not worry. For this war will not make me an expert on, but rather 
> an apprentice, in life. With each second, minute, and day passing, I 
> am learning how
> to live, and soon I shall return to you, so our two souls can once 
> again become whole."
> "God, that is so damn beautiful…" said the bartender.
> "The love in our hearts is like the angel's wings we fly for each 
> other, but not for things. For our love, Julia, the enlightening words 
> of the soul are
> more precious than the diamonds and gold of the world."
> "Man, I wish I could write like that," said Frank. He and the 
> bartender read through the rest of the letters, a total of thirteen.
> "These are the most beautiful things I have ever read. You have to 
> return them to Julia," said the bartender. "God, why can't I meet 
> someone like that in
> my life?"
> The next day, Frank went to the address that was on the envelopes and 
> knocked on the door.
> "Can I help you," asked a women.
> "Yes. Last night, Julia was in my cab, and she left these letters on 
> my front seat," he said to her.
> "So," she said, as she was distracted by her 4-year-old son.
> "You must be Anthony," Frank said to the little boy.
> "How do you know his name?" asked the women.
> "Julia told me," said Frank.
> "Who the hell is Julia?" asked the women.
> "You know Julia?" the little boy asked Frank.
> "Yea, she told me about you and your sister, Jessica," Frank said.
> "She sure loves you guys very much."
> "Ok, who put you up to this? Was it Hank? Where is he? This is some 
> kind of joke, isn't it?" asked the women, referring to her husband, Hank.
> "What do you mean? I'm just trying to return Julia's letters," said Frank.
> "Julia is someone my kids made up, or some sort of ghost. Because ever 
> since we moved into this place, weird stuff has been happening," said 
> the women.
> "Like what?" Frank asked.
> "The TV switches channels to Sesame Street without anyone touching the 
> remote control. CD players turn off without anyone touching them. My 
> two youngest
> kids have full conversations with someone they call Julia. They say 
> she is an elderly woman, as if she is some sort of invisible nanny, 
> and I'm beginning
> to think she's a ghost," said the women.
> "Hey, Anthony, tell your friend Julia that I'll give these letters to 
> her granddaughter," Frank said to the little boy.
> "Are you for real?" asked Anthony's mother.
> "I wouldn't worry about Julia. She cares for your family very much," 
> Frank said to her.
> "Come on, are you for real? This is not a joke," she said. "My house 
> is haunted by a little old lady named Julia?"
> Anthony began tugging on his mother's shirt to get her attention.
> "What is it, sweetie?" she asked her son.
> "Julia said she's not a little old lady," Anthony paused, as if he was 
> listening to someone telling him what to say. "She said she doesn't 
> feel a day over
> 40."
> "You see what I mean? This goes on all day between him and Jessica," 
> she said to Frank.
> Jessica, the woman's 6 year old daughter, walked into the living room.
> "Come on into the living room," the women said to Frank.
> Frank sat down on the couch next to Jessica. "So you must be Jessica," 
> Frank said.
> "Yep, and you're Frank, Julia's friend. She said you can give the 
> letters to Kimberly, her granddaughter, " Jessica said to Frank.
> "Mommy, Julia wants to watch Days of Our Lives on TV now," Anthony 
> yelled to his mother.
> "That's fine sweetie, don't put it on too loud," the women told her 
> son. "Would you like a cup of coffee or something? I have cake if you 
> would like some,"
> she asked.
> "Thank you for your hospitality, but I really would like to return 
> these letters," he said.
> Frank told Anthony, "Tell Julia that the letters are the most 
> beautiful things I have ever read. And you take care, Anthony." Then 
> he said good-bye and
> left.
> Frank went to Julia's granddaughter's home, but he wasn't sure how to 
> give the letters to her. "I'll just hand the letters to her and leave!
> Maybe she won't be home," he thought to himself.
> Frank nervously rang the doorbell, and a woman in her 
> mid-to-late-twenties came to the door. She looked just as Julia 
> described her the night before: young
> and beautiful. She appeared sure of herself.
> "Can I help you?" she asked.
> "I have something that belongs to your grandmother, " Frank said to her.
> "Both of my grandmothers died," she said.
> "These are your grandmother Julia's letters that your Grandfather 
> wrote her," he said. Frank handed her the letters, as he turned to 
> walk away.
> "What? You're just going to hand me letters my grandfather wrote and 
> just leave?" she asked. "Why the big mystery?"
> "They were left in my cab, and I had to return them," he answered.
> She began to read the first letter, and at the same time, she asked 
> Frank to come into her home. He sat down at her kitchen table, as she 
> continued to read
> the letters.
> "They are the most beautiful letters I've ever read," he said. "My 
> name is Frank."
> "My name is Kimberly, and I never knew these letters existed," she 
> said. "Someone left them in your cab?"
> "Yeah," said Frank.
> "Who?" she asked. "You can tell me."
> "Julia," he said.
> "Julia who?" Kimberly asked.
> "Your grandmother," said Frank.
> "Yeah, OK, what did she look like?" she asked him skeptically.
> Frank said, "Well, for one thing, she is a big fan of Days of Our Lives."
> "That's true. She watched it every day, and on the days she couldn't 
> watch it, when she started getting sick, she asked me to tape the 
> episodes," she said.
> Frank explained to Kimberly the whole story of her grandmother being 
> in his cab and taking him to Kimberly's home the night before.
> "I was working late last night. That's why I wasn't here. I'm really 
> skeptical about all of this, and I don't believe a word of it," she 
> said to him.
> "The people who are living in her home have two young children, who 
> can see her and talk to her. Perhaps the children's mother will allow 
> us to come over,"
> he said.
> "I have their number. I'll call them," she said. "Excuse me for a 
> moment, please."
> Kimberly went into another room and came back into the kitchen a short 
> time later.
> "Meet me at my grandmother's home," she said with a stunned look on 
> her face. "I spoke to Lucy Stetlock, the women who bought the house.
> She said it's OK for us to go there now."
> When Frank arrived at the house, Kimberly was already there, talking 
> to Jessica and Anthony.
> "She's glad you got the letters," Anthony told Kimberly.
> Tears began to well up in Kimberly's eyes. "I didn't know about the 
> letters. They're very beautiful," she said.
> Jessica told Kimberly, "Julia wants you to know that Frank is a good 
> person." She then paused as if listening to Julia and said, "You can 
> save anything
> in life but life itself."
> Anthony then said, "How you spend your life is determined by your 
> life's worth. Julia says you can measure a person's worth by what they 
> give to others."
> "Frank needs someone to help him realize his true worth. She told me 
> to tell you that," Jessica told Kimberly.
> "Julia wants me to tell Frank that the greatest achievements in a 
> person's life are all the unremembered acts of kindness and love that 
> were bestowed on
> others," Jessica said.
> Anthony began to tug on his mother's shirt.
> "What, sweetie," Lucy asked her son.
> "Julia said that Frank and Kimberly are each other's better half," 
> Anthony said.
> Anthony then turned to Frank and Kimberly. "Julia wants me to tell you 
> that nothing goes unnoticed in life."
> Jessica said to Frank and Kimberly, "Julia says you are now learning 
> how to live, and you need each other to grow."
> "Thank you," Kimberly said to Lucy, unable to hold back her tears.
> "Your grandmother is a remarkable woman," Lucy said to Kimberly.
> "So was my grandfather," said Kimberly.
> Frank and Kimberly believed in Julia's message, and they dated. Frank 
> went back to school, and with Kimberly's help, graduated from college.
> He is now a renowned parapsychologist. Kimberly also went back to 
> school and earned a law degree.
> Frank understands more about himself and the countless possibilities 
> that lie ahead, because he has Kimberly in his life.
> They are continuing each day to learn, and they recognize that it's 
> the small, subtle acts of loving kindness that determine the true 
> worth of a person's
> character. They also understand that they are truly each other's 
> better half.
> Frank and Kimberly are now married and have two children. One is named 
> Julia, after Kimberly's grandmother, and the other is named Charles 
> after her grandfather,
> who was killed at Normandy on June 6, 1944.
> Author: Thomas F. O'Neill
>
>
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